Okiro seeks overhaul of security system in Africa
APRIL 28, 2013
Former Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro
Former Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, has challenged African leaders to modify their national security systems and to include non–conventional threats in their security agenda.
He said this would ensure that the continent benefits from the advantages of the emerging African market.
Okiro said this on Friday at the Caledonian University, Glasgow, United Kingdom, in a lecture titled, ‘Re-thinking Global Security: An African Perspective.’
The lecture was an annual Scottish-African International Business Conference and Exhibition held at Govan-Mbeki Conference Centre of the university.
He said, “We should remodel our national security Policies to reflect the need to promote security and democracy in Africa for sustainable development.”
“Crime prevention is not necessarily about law enforcement or the activities of the traditional pillars/agencies of the criminal justice system – police, prosecution, courts, prisons – which had been viewed as a collection of interrelated, semi-autonomous bureaucracies at odds with each other.”
“Crime prevention is the attempt to use social resources to change the conditions that can predispose people to commit crimes, as well as reduce the opportunity for crime.
“Crime prevention also requires adequate resources in order to be sustained. There should be clear accountability for funding, implementation and evaluation and for the achievement of planned results.”
The former police chief noted that to prevent crime, community programmes should be designed to improve social condition. Others include public education campaigns to alert people to the consequences of deviant activities; informing potential victims of ways to minimise risk; and programmes to reduce the opportunity for perpetration of crimes by improving the security of property and person.
He noted that policing should be geared towards national development and economic growth. “I really do not think we have a choice other than this option for efficiency and effectiveness,” he added.
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