Regional intelligence, security chiefs discuss armed rebel groups
What you need to know:
- The Executive Secretary of CISSA, Shimels Semayat said all the armed groups were using drugs and uncontrolled natural resources to fund their activities.
KAMPALA-Regional intelligence and security chiefs are meeting in Kampala to discuss armed rebel groups in the region and their connection to terrorism.
The two-day meeting that started on Monday brought spy chiefs from Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Mauritius, South Sudan, Sudan, Djibouti, Comoros, Uganda, Tanzania and Madagascar.
The regional security chiefs are meeting as eastern African chapter of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa [CISSA], a primary committee that gives intelligence to African Union for policy making.
Uganda’s Director General of External Security Organisation, Joseph Ocwet, who heads the East African Chapter, said they will discuss source of funding for the terrorist and armed groups in the region and how regional governments can work together end their activities.
“The main issue is terrorism. But we are also facing new challenges of cybercrime, human trafficking and money laundering,” he said.
The Executive Secretary of CISSA, Shimels Semayat said all the armed groups were using drugs and uncontrolled natural resources to fund their activities. He mentioned al-Shabaab, the Allied Democratic Forces in DR Congo as the biggest armed groups that are threatening regional security.
They will today in the afternoon meet President Museveni at State House, Entebbe.
