Governance

ASSN has a 13 member Executive Committee that provides strategic leadership to the network. The Executive Committee is elected by the General Assembly to a three year term.

Niagalé Bagayoko-Penone Chair

Dr. Niagalé Bagayoko-Penone was the Programme Manager for the Maintenance and Consolidation of Peace Programme of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF). She has conducted extensive field research in several francophone African countries, much of it anchoring on the interface between security and development. She has been a lecturer at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) - University of Sussex (UK) and the Institute of Political Studies in Paris; an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Research and Education on Strategy and Technology (US-CREST); and a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of Research for Development (IRD) in France. In 2003, she won the Prize for Scientific Research awarded by the French Ministry of Defence. She has also been a consultant for the African Union; the Department for International Aid (DFID); the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT); the Centre for Study of the Social Science of Defence (C2SD); and the French Ministry of Defence..

 Lt Col (Rtd) Jerry Kitiku Vice Chair

Jerry Kitiku is the Director of the Security Research and Information Centre (SRIC-Kenya), a non-profit think tank that provides data and information on human security and the security sector in Kenya, the wider Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa. A retired Kenya Navy officer, Lt Col Kitiku is an expert on human security dynamics and conflict. He has both command and administrative experience at senior levels in the military and was a senior instructor at the Defence Staff College (DSC) in Nairobi. In the early 2000s, he was among a team of experts that crafted an Implementation Plan and Agenda for Action, on request by the Kenya Government, for the Nairobi Declarations on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW). He was also part of a research team that conducted national surveys on the problem of SALW and the development of national action plans in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Lt Col Kitiku also served for many years as a security attaché in various Kenyan diplomatic missions abroad

Eboe Hutchful Executive Secretary

Eboe Hutchful is a professor of African Studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, USA, and has taught at several other universities in Africa and North America, including the University of Toronto, Trent and Waterloo Universities in Ontario, the University of Ghana and the University of Port Harcourt. He is a long-time researcher on civil-military relations, security sector reform, and international development issues. He is the author of Ghana's Adjustment Experience: The Paradox of Reform (James Currey, 2002), co-editor (with Wuyi Omitoogun) of Budgeting for the Military Sector in Africa: the Processes and Mechanisms of Control (Oxford University Press, 2006), and co-editor (with Abdoulaye Bathily) of The Military and Militarism in Africa (Codesria Books, 1998). Professor Hutchful is a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (ABDM). He is also a member of the International Advisory Board of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF); the UN International Policing Advisory Council (IPAC); the Governing Board of the Global Consortium for Security Transformation (GCST); and the Advisory Group of the (erstwhile) Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform (GFN-SSR).

Uju Agomoh Regional Coordinator, West Africa

Dr. Uju Agomoh is the founder and director of Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), a Security, Justice and Development focused NGO with regional/continental initiatives in several African Countries. She has served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria (NHRC) and was the Commission's Special Rapporteur on Police, Prisons and Centres of Detention (2001-2008). She has also been a member of the Nigerian Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (2006-2009); Member of the coordinating committee of the Association of Security Sector Education and Training (ASSET); Council Member of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT); Board Member of the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA); and Chair of the ICPA Developing Countries Committee. Dr Agomoh is also a Research Fellow at the University of Nigeria Institute for Development Studies (IDS). Her recent research work has focussed on the topics of Gender and the Criminal Justice System, Sustainability of Penal Reform Interventions and Management of Pre-trial Detention, Mentally-ill Detainees, Prison-based and Community-Based Re-entry Programmes, and the Prevention of Torture.

 Medhane Tadesse Regional Coordinator, Horn of Africa

Medhane Tadesse is a specialist on African Peace and Security. He has taught at various universities in Ethiopia and abroad and has written extensively on African security and related topics, spawning four books, over 160 briefing papers, articles, commentaries and policy memos. More recently, he has been a Visiting Professor at the School of Global Studies, Kings College, London, lectureship on the Governance of Security. A lot of his work has dwelt the pertinent issues of regime stability, vulnerability to conflict, ethnic conflict, armed violence, globalised security and diplomacy, militarisation, governance and humanitarian crisis in Africa. Professor Tadesse has served as a consultant to several African governments, international and inter-governmental organisations on issues relating to peace and stability. He runs the Peace and Security Studies Directorate at the Centre for Policy Research and Dialogue (CPRD) in Juba, South Sudan. He is also a columnist and frequent commentator on global and regional security issues, and is the editor of The Current Analyst, an online journal that examines issues of peace and security in Africa..

Dr Kossi Mawuli AGOKLA Member

Dr Kossi Mawuli AGOKLA is a Togolese national and a senior public law professor. He graduated in International Relations and Public Administration. He has served in high positions in the Togolese administration, notably, twice as Secretary General of the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Internal Security and as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister in charge of reforms.
More especially, he served as an international civil servant in the OAU (now AU), ECOWAS, UEMOA as Secretary General of the Commission for the first mandate, etc. At the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), he led the African Security Sector Reform Program (ASSEREP) for almost 6 years implementing mostly in Francophone African countries programs on defence and security forces, Law enforcement related to electoral processes; Strategic and operational plans; SALW including stockpile management; Gender issues on National Action Plans on UNSCR 1325 and Gender Policy paper; Civilian and military relations; democratic control of the security sector; monitoring of national SSR processes etc.
Dr AGOKLA has participated in and facilitated several workshops in Europe and throughout Africa on SSR issues and has contributed to several publications, articles and tools on SSR and has collaborated with many institutions: UN, AU, EU, ECOWAS, OIF, DCAF, ISS, KAIPTC, GRIP etc.
He has been an active member of the ASSN over the past decade and has conducted some of its major activities.

Emile Ouedraogo Member

Dr. Emile Ouedraogo is an adjunct professor of practice at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, specializing in issues related to national security strategy development and security sector reform and governance. Since 2007, he has worked with the Africa Center on more than 30 activities as a speaker, facilitator, and author. He also works with AFRICOM, Partners Global, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Friedrich Erbet Stiftung, and the ECOWAS Parliament. He is a member of the African Security Sector Network and founding President of the Fondation pour la Sécurité du Citoyen (FOSEC) of Burkina Faso. Prior to joining the Africa Center, in 2017-18, Dr. Ouedraogo completed a six-month mission with the African Union as a security sector reform and governance expert for Madagascar. As Minister of Security of Burkina Faso from 2008 to 2011, he initiated and developed a Homeland Security Strategy and operationalized the concept of community policing and community participation in the management of security issues. After 30 years of service with the Burkina Faso Army, he retired from active duty in 2012 as a Colonel, having served in positions including Aide to the Prime Minister, Support Regiment Commanding Officer, and Chief of the Military Intelligence Division at the Army General Staff. Dr. Ouedraogo was a parliamentarian in the National Assembly of Burkina Faso and the ECOWAS Parliament, where he sat on the Political Affairs, Peace, Defense, and Security Committees. In this capacity, he carried out informative and investigative missions in most of ECOWAS’ 15 countries. He earned a Ph.D. with honors from the Center for Diplomatic and Strategic Studies in Paris, France, on security sector reform and governance in the ECOWAS Region.

Sean Tait Member

Sean Tait is the founder and Director of APCOF. He holds a degree in Criminology from the University of Cape Town. He is a former Director of the Criminal Justice Initiative at the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, and the former Executive Director of a South African non-governmental organization Urban Monitoring and Awareness Committee (UMAC). His areas of expertise include policing, police accountability, crime prevention, conflict resolution and peace building.

Mpako Foaleng Member

Mpako Foaleng is a specialist in security sector reform (SSR) and governance currently working with the UN strategic Advisory Team to the Presidency of Burkina Faso. She has worked in various capacities including strategic advice, capacity and policy development, program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes. She advised and supported processes and policy development at various levels with the UN, ECOWAS, the African Union and at country level in countries such as the Gambia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, the Democratic republic of Congo, Madagascar, and Niger, just to cite a few. She served as an advisor to the UN team supporting the initiation of the SSR process in Guinea.

Prior to joining the team in Burkina Faso, Mpako served as the Security Sector Reform Advisor of the Office of the United Nations for West Africa and the Sahel where for more than two years, she led and managed the SSR portfolio of the Office in support of the Special Representative of the Secretary General in the 16 countries of the region. She coordinated and managed the Secretariat of the West Africa Coast Initiative which brings together UNODC, DPKO, Interpol and UNOWAS in the fight against transnational organized crime and drug trafficking.

From 2009 to 2015, she worked with the Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) which she initially joined as an adviser within the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT) and later as head of the Africa Programme. In this capacity, she built, developed the programme, mobilized funds and initiated the implementation while putting the team together from scratch. She also negotiated with the authorities and the leadership the adhesion of Madagascar into the DCAF Foundation Council as a Member State. She implemented a key programme in Mali where she built institutional relationships with the Ministry of Security and civil protection, the Parliament providing advisory services which led were catalytic for the creation of the first National Committee for SSR in 2014.

Mpako has worked for many years in the areas of human security and protection for civilians in conflict affected and post-conflict situations for the Washington based organization Refugees International and for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

She is the author of several studies including on the African Union reform, African Union reform, security sector reform programming and civil wars in Africa .

She has a doctorate in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a Laurea in political science from the University of Perugia in Italy. She has also studied at Yaoundé University II in Cameroon her country of origin.

Mpako Foaleng est spécialiste de la réforme du secteur de la sécurité et de la gouvernance, actuellement membre de l’équipe de conseil stratégique des Nations Unies auprès de la Présidence du Faso. Elle a exercé diverses fonctions, notamment de conseils stratégiques, d’appui au renforcement des capacités et à l’élaboration des politiques et stratégies, la conception de programmes, la mise en œuvre, le suivi et l’évaluation de programmes. Elle a conseillé et soutenu des processus et l'élaboration de politiques à différents niveaux avec l'ONU, la CEDEAO, l'Union Africaine et au niveau national dans des pays tels que la Gambie, le Burkina Faso, le Mali, la Guinée, la République démocratique du Congo, Madagascar et le Niger pour n’en citer que quelques-uns. Elle a été conseillère auprès de l'équipe des Nations Unies chargée d’appuyer le lancement du processus de la réforme du secteur de la sécurité en Guinée.

Avant de rejoindre l'équipe au Burkina Faso, Mpako a été la conseillère en réforme du secteur de la sécurité du Bureau des Nations Unies pour l'Afrique de l'Ouest et le Sahel, où elle a dirigé et géré pendant plus de deux ans le portefeuille de la RSS et conseillé le représentant spécial du secrétaire général des Nations Unies sur les 16 pays de la région. Elle a coordonné et géré le secrétariat de l'Initiative de la côte ouest-africaine, qui réunit l'ONUDC, le Département des Opérations de Maintien de la Paix, Interpol et l'UNOWAS dans la lutte contre le crime organisé transnational et le trafic de drogue.

De 2009 à 2015, elle a travaillé avec le Centre pour le contrôle démocratique des forces armées (DCAF) qu'elle a d'abord rejoint en tant que conseillère au sein de l'Équipe de conseil du secteur de la sécurité internationale (ISSAT) et plus tard en tant que chef du programme Afrique. À ce titre, elle a développé le programme, mobilisé des fonds et initié la mise en œuvre tout en construisant son équipe. Elle a également négocié avec les autorités et le leadership l'adhésion de Madagascar au Conseil de fondation du DCAF en tant qu'État membre. Elle a mis en place un programme clé au Mali où elle a établi des relations institutionnelles avec le ministère de la Sécurité et de la protection civile, le Parlement et fourni des conseils qui ont servi de catalyseur pour la création du premier comité national de la RSS en 2014.

Mpako a aussi travaillé pendant plusieurs années dans les domaines de la sécurité humaine et de la protection des civils dans les situations de conflit et d'après conflit pour les organisations telles que le Norwegian Refugee Council et Refugees International.

Elle est l'auteur de plusieurs études, notamment sur la réforme de l'Union africaine, , la programmation de la réforme du secteur de la sécurité et les guerres civiles en Afrique.

Elle est titulaire d'un doctorat en relations internationales de l'Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales et du développement de Genève et d'une Laurea en sciences politiques de l'Université de Pérouse en Italie. Elle a aussi étudié à l’Université de Yaoundé II au Cameroun d’où elle est originaire.

Eboe Hutchful Executive Secretary Eboe Hutchful is a professor of African Studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, USA, and has taught at several other universities in Africa and North America, including the University of Toronto, Trent and Waterloo Universities in Ontario, the University of Ghana and the University of Port Harcourt. He is a long-time researcher on civil-military relations, security sector reform, and international development issues. He is the author of Ghana's Adjustment Experience: The Paradox of Reform (James Currey, 2002), co-editor (with Wuyi Omitoogun) of Budgeting for the Military Sector in Africa: the Processes and Mechanisms of Control (Oxford University Press, 2006), and co-editor (with Abdoulaye Bathily) of the military and Militarism in Africa (Codesria Books, 1998). Professor Hutchful is a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (ABDM). He is also a member of the International Advisory Board of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF); the UN International Policing Advisory Council (IPAC); the Governing Board of the Global Consortium for Security Transformation (GCST); and the Advisory Group of the (erstwhile) Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform (GFN-SSR).

Jane Abubakar Programmes Coordinator Jane holds an MSc in Humanitarian and Refugee Studies from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria) and a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Ghana, Legon. Before joining the ASSN, Jane was Senior Assistant Registrar at MountCrest University College in Ghana. She has previously worked with the Refugee Law Project in Uganda as an intern, Freedom from Hunger Ghana as the Programme Officer - Monitoring and Fundraising, and as the administrative officer of the Peacebuilding Project at the University of Ghana’s Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD). Jane has also been a training and fundraising consultant for the ActionAid programme in Ghana. Among the trainings she has attended are: Advanced Swiss Level 2 Training on SSR organized by ISSAT/DCAF at SWISSINT, Switzerland, Gender Mainstreaming in Security Sector Reform by WIPSEN-AFRICA in Ghana, a Certificate Course in ‘Civilian Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding’ by the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and ECOWAS in Abuja, Nigeria and a Certificate Course in ‘Conflict Care and Reconciliation’ at the Transcend Peace University in Romania

Elom Khaunbiow Programme Officer Elom is a Togolese national with a passion for pan-Africanism. He holds an MA in International Security and Defense from the University Pierre Mendes France of Grenoble and an MA in International Human Rights Law from the University of Nantes as well as a BA in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin. Before joining ASSN, Elom worked for the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) in his country’s capital, Lomé. He was a Programme Associate specifically assigned to UNREC’s Regulation of Small Arms and Light Weapons Brokers in Africa Project and The African Security Sector Reform Programme. Elom’s combined interest in international relations, human rights and African security sector affairs partly grew out of a series of internships he undertook at Amnesty International, the Togolese Association for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights (TADPHR) and the Togolese ministry of foreign affairs. He speaks English and French.

Selasi Nelly Bokordedzi Senior Programme Assistant Selasi holds a BA Degree in Psychology and Linguistics from the University of Ghana, Legon and is currently studying at the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (Part Two). She has a wealth of experience in administration, accounting and finance as well as auditing, working with private companies and NGOs in Ghana and beyond. Prior to joining the ASSN, she worked with MJB Consult in Ghana and functioned in both Accounting and HR capacities. She was also consistently involved in most of the organisation’s audit work in Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Benin under a USADF Grantee and Partner Audit. Selasi wishes to contribute her quota to African (and global) peace and security and is delighted to join the ASSN Secretariat.

Eric Dzivenu Accounts Officer Eric is the Accountants Officer at the ASSN Secretariat. He is a Chartered Accountant of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana and has over five (5) years working experience in accounting and auditing. Previously, Eric worked as an accountant in both the shipping industries and SMEs in Ghana. He is currently an Audit Associate at MJB & Associates, a firm of Professional Accountants and Auditors based in Accra, Ghana and on secondment at the ASSN.

Edem Annenu Maintenance Officer Edem holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Building Technology from the Accra Polytechnic in Ghana. Prior to joining the ASSN, he worked for Cassa Trassaco Limited in Ghana as a Buildings Supervisor

East Africa and The Great Lakes Region Hosting affiliate: Security Research and Information Centre (SRIC) Location: Nairobi, Kenya Regional Coordinator: Lt Col (Rtd) Jerry W. Kitiku

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SRIC is an independent non-profit think-tank that provides data and information on human security and security sector dynamics in Kenya, the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, SRIC's mission is to influence and contribute to positive change in the security sector dynamics in its three geographical regions of focus. SRIC pursues this mission by conducting research, facilitating policy dialogue aimed at the transformation the security sector and providing verifiable data and information on key security areas and the trends in crime and armed violence in East Africa. It also maintains a dedicated database that makes this data and information easily accessible to government officials, researchers and the media. Southern Africa Hosting affiliate: Southern African Defence & Security Management Network (SADSEM)

 

PRAWA is a Non-governmental organization aimed at promoting Security, Justice and Development in Africa. It was established in 1994 and in 1998 it secured observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The organization has three major programme components namely, Security and Justice Sector Reform Programme Component, Social Development and Rehabilitation Programme Component and Research and Documentation Programme Component.

It utilizes the following strategies in the implementation of it Programmes:

Training and Capacity Building (TRACAD)
Research and Advocacy
Human Rights Monitoring
Rehabilitation, Care and Support Services (RECASS)
Community Justice Programme and Engagement (COJUP).

Southern Africa
Regional Node: African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF)
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Regional Coordinator: Mr Sean Tait

The African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) is a Not-for-Profit Trust working on issues of police accountability and governance in Africa. APCOF promotes the values which the establishment of civilian oversight seeks to achieve; namely to assist in restoring public confidence, developing a culture of human rights, promoting integrity and transparency within the police, and nurturing good working relationships between the police and the community. While APCOF is active in the field of policing, its work is located in the broader paradigm of promoting democratic governance and the rule of law.

West Africa

Regional Node: La Fondation pour la Sécurité du Citoyen (FOSEC)

Location: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Regional Coordinator: Emile Ouédraogo
The Foundation for Citizen Security (FOSEC) is a civil society organization, whose vision is to contribute to the creation of a society where security, tolerance, peace and solidarity prevail for the emergence of collective prosperity in Burkina Faso. More concretely, this organization's mission is to:

- Contribute to building the capacity of community structures and civil society organizations working in the field of security;

- Promote civic engagement with a view to human security and sustainable development;

- Contribute to the eradication of violence against women and to their care;

- Play the role of civil society in SSR/G;

- Contribute to mediation and conciliation in inter and intra-community crises.

FRENCH

La Fondation pour la Sécurité du Citoyen (FOSEC) est une organisation de la société civile, qui a pour vision de contribuer à la création d’une société où règnent la sécurité, la tolérance, la paix et la solidarité pour l’émergence d’une prospérité collective au Burkina Faso. Plus concrètement, cette organisation a pour mission de :

– Contribuer au renforcement des capacités des structures communautaires et des organisations de la société civile œuvrant dans le domaine de la sécurité ;

– Promouvoir un engagement citoyen dans une perspective de sécurité humaine et de développement durable ;

– Contribuer à l’éradication des violences faites aux femmes ainsi qu’à leur prise en charge ;

– jouer le rôle de la société civile dans la R /GSS ;

– Contribuer à la médiation et à la conciliation dans les crises inter et intra-communautaires.