Rwanda National Police

The Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana, on April 27, received and addressed a Formed Police Unit (FPU) contingent of 126 officers that returned home from its peacekeeping duties under the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Flanked by the Deputy IGPs, commissioners and senior police officers, the IGP debriefed the contingent at the Rwanda National Police Headquarters in Kacyiru, which returned home earlier in the day aboard the national carrier, RwandAir.

He appreciated the performance of the contingent in Mali and commended the continued peace support efforts by Rwanda and RNP in particular in various peace support operations.

Despite field mission challenges particularly in MINUSMA, he underscored that “RNP shall maintain the professional conduct and high standards of performance both at home and in international peace missions.”

Rwanda, which started to deploy its Police personnel in peacekeeping missions in 2005 with 49 officers under UN /AU mission in Sudan, is currently ranked the fifth contributing nation worldwide with currently over 600 in eight missions.

The Rwanda peacekeepers in Mali earned respected by the local people for their outreach programmes and introducing the home-grown initiatives like Umuganda, which has become a norm among Malians especially in Gao, Northern Mali where the Rwandan FPU had its base camp.

The FPU in Mali introduced food security awareness aimed at encouraging MINUSMA and local security organs to engage in various initiatives to assist vulnerable communities.

Out of the financial contribution of each of the Rwandan police officer, they supported orphans including paying their school fees for one year, gave them scholastic materials, among others.

The returned RWAFPU2 initiated an IT course in a bid to enhance technological skills of the local security forces under 'e-policing', a prerequisite in modern policing for effective response to emerging security challenges.

The one-month e-policing training benefited 57 participants who are members of Mali security personnel