Rwanda National Police

A man identified as Etienne Havugimana was arrested Friday in Gakenke District in connection with forging a mechanical certificate for his vehicle.

The pickup vehicle, registration number RAB 924W, which Havugimana was driving at the time, was stopped in Gakenke, along Musanze-Kigali highway by traffic Police officers, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Alexis Rugigana, the Police spokesperson for the Northern region, said.

“The traffic Police officers while on their routine duty stopped the pickup vehicle RAB 924W, which was being driven by Havugimana. While cross-checking the traffic documents for the driver and the vehicle they realized that the mechanical certificate was forged, the driver was taken into custody and the vehicle impounded,” CIP Rugigana said.

The vehicle mechanical certificate was also not in the system of the Motor-vehicle Inspection Centre (MIC), he added. The MIC system store records for all automobiles inspected.

“A number of drivers and those involved in forgeries have been arrested in these criminal activities, and these operations are continuous,” CIP Rugigana warned.

About five people were arrested last month in connection with either forging or using forged vehicle mechanical inspection certificate.

“Acquiring mechanical inspection services is easy, the MIC in Kigali operates up to midnight, it’s easy for one to book at anytime of their convenience, so no need for one to engage in such criminal acts of counterfeit, which leads to imprisonment,” the spokesperson advised.

He observed that forging MIC certificate can lead to fatal accidents in cases when the automobile is not roadworthy.