Rwanda National Police

A man in Kigali could not believe it when two commercial motorcyclists dragged him to Police for trying to pay for his transportation by using counterfeit money.

Identified as Jean Luc Kalisa, 24, the suspect who had hired a motorcycle to transport him to Kwa Rubangura, was suddenly seized by his transporter, after noticing that the Rwf2000 note he had used for payment was counterfeit.

With the help of a nearby colleague, the commercial motorcyclist dragged Kalisa to Muhima Police Station, where he is held as further investigations continue.

“When they brought the suspect to Police, he denied to be a distributor of fake money, but he was searched and found to be on possession of counterfeit money worth Rwf107000,” Superintendent Modeste Mbabazi, Police spokesperson for the Central region.

“The noble act by the motorcyclist is a very clear example of how the general public can work together through community policing to ensure that crimes such as these are prevented and solved.”

He added that the act sent a clear message to criminals out there, that the citizens of Rwanda prefer to work in peace and lawfulness than to collaborate with criminals who undermine security and development.

“Police cannot be everywhere, but it relies on citizens through community policing by providing relevant information that helps in investigations,” he added.

Police has fronted community policing as a steadfast way through which counterfeit money and other economic crimes can be overcome.

One of the goals of RNP is to bring illegal money out of the shadows, and to deal with it heads on by sensitizing the public, especially the business community about its challenges.

Though financial institutions have installed hi-tech equipment to easily detect fake money, the likely majority victims could be small businesses in communities.

Therefore, the force intends to create a safe and fair economic climate, where traders can converse and cooperate among themselves so that they can collectively with Police trace every flow of fake money in the economy.

Articles 601 to 604 of the Rwandan penal code punishes those who knowingly circulates fake monies and those who acquires fake currencies unknowingly, but circulates them after discovering they are counterfeit.