English
Kinyarwanda
The Governor for Eastern Province, Fred Mufurukye has appealed to residents of Gatsibo District to take lead in fighting and preventing lawlessness and to own community development programmes.
The Governor made the call on Wednesday during a community meeting Remera Sector. It was also attended by First Division Commander Maj. Gen. Mubarak Muganga and the Eastern Regional Police Commander (RPC), Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Benoit Sindayiheba Kayijuka as well as local leaders and thousands of residents.
The meeting focused on a number of community security and development aspects including fighting illegal mining activities and forming cooperatives as means to easily access other services including financial support.
Others include addressing the issue of school dropouts and illegal vending businesses in trading centres largely by the same young people who drop out of school, and strengthening efforts against psychotropic substances.
Governor Mufurukye urged the residents to exercise their community policing rights against anything that is likely to affect their social wellbeing. He further appealed to them to strengthen the bond of togetherness, and to partner and support each other in all aspects of security and development.
“We all need to have a sense of belonging and ownership in addressing issues we face; if it is Umuganda to build a house for a disadvantaged neighbor, constructing roads linking our communities, we all need to own it and be there,” he said.
He added: “If it is discussing matters of community policing, having vibrant Irondo, neighbourhood watch and sharing information on wrongdoers, it should be the responsibility of each and everyone.”
The Governor also hinted on the issue of children who drop out of school and engage in illegal business of vending various goods in trading centres and bus station.
He appealed to parents to ensure that their children go to school and tasked local leaders to work with other concerned institutions to address the concern.
ACP Kayijuka thanked the residents for their partnership in policing and crime prevention in particular.
He, however, noted that the issue of illicit drugs remains one of the major pressing concerns affecting all levels of development including children falling victims, influencing them to drop out of school and engaging in other criminal acts like theft, and fueling conflicts in families leading to domestic and gender based violence.
