Rwanda National Police

A man, who was masquerading as an employee of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) and defrauding unsuspecting members of the public, was arrested on Thursday in Jali Sector, Gasabo District.

Police said Innocent Uwizeyimana, 33, was impersonating REG staff and stealing pre-paid cashpower metres from houses.

Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Marie Gorette Umutesi, the Police spokesperson for the City of Kigali, said the arrest of Uwizeyimana followed complaints from people whose cashpower metres he had taken.

“Uwizeyimana was going around telling people that he is an employee of REG and that he was checking faulty cashpower metres to be replaced,” CIP Umutesi said.

“He would take them from one house and put them on other houses and would be paid by the new beneficiaries in return,” she added.

Affected residents, she said, later called the service provider—REG—which verified and found out that Uwizeyimana was dismissed.

“REG in-turn informed the Police and Uwizeyimana was arrested. He had already taken cashpower metres from 10 houses as well as electric cables connecting houses from the grid,” she explained.

She appealed to the general public to always be vigilant and report such suspicious individuals.

“Always take a step to find out if the person is actually who he is by calling service providers or the Police,” CIP Umutesi advised.

The penal code in its article 279, states that “any person who, without title usurps public, civil or military functions or poses the acts of one of these functions or falsely attributes to himself/herself the quality of a public official or publicly wears a costume, a uniform, badge or an emblem with an intention to mislead the public, commits an offence.”

Upon conviction, the offender is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years and not more than three years, with a fine of not less than Rwf300, 000 and not more than Rwf500, 000.

Theft, under article 166 attracts an imprisonment of between one and two years and a fine ranging from Rwf1 million and Rwf2 million, community service in a period of six months, or one of these penalties.

However, in article 167, the penalty is doubled if the offender usurps false title or insignia of a civil servant or a person responsible for services of general interest or with a false mandate from public authority.