Rwanda National Police

Opinion leaders in Kamonyi District have been urged to take the lead role in crime prevention as part of making their neighborhoods safer.

 The call was made by the Kamonyi District Community Liaison Officer, Assistant Inspector of Police (AIP) Athanase Niyonagira during a meeting that brought together forty opinion leaders and held in Rugarika Sector.

 “You compose the most vital part of the society, you have the ability to shape your neighborhoods the way you want them to be… that’s why they entrusted you with leadership responsibility, you should as well take on the responsibility of crime prevention,” Niyonagira told the leaders.

 Niyonagira particularly urged the elders to consider abuse of drugs as a security threat whose effects do not stop only on the abuser but goes beyond to affect family safety and national economy.

 “It’s criminal to use, carry, or sell drugs and narcotic substances like cannabis, illicit brew and other drugs. These substances have a health and financial effect to whoever abuses them. Effects of these substances are not selective; they reach out to anyone from a child to an adult. This is why we should collectively wipe them out of our communities,” he said.

 He went on to say that, “Any person who consumes drugs is not in their rightful state of mind and their actions may not be appropriate. Adults may turn violent while youth drop out of school. The end-results are bad that’s why we urge you to be ambassadors of anti-drug abuse.”

 The Executive Secretary of Rugarika Sector, Pierre Celestin Nshegiyumva, thank Rwanda National Police for its continued anti-crime sensitization.

 One of the attendants, Primien Ngenzi who spoke on behalf of the opinion leaders said that they have committed to working closely with the Police and other security organs to ensure they eliminate crime in their area.

 The meeting was part of Rwanda National Police’s initiative of community policing where officers reach out to different categories of people to educate them about their role in crime prevention