Rwanda National Police

A man suspected of holding a fake driver’s licence was arrested on December 19 in Ngororero district.

Chrystom Ntawihoreye was arrested at a check-point where he had been stopped in the normal Police checks.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Alphonse Zigira, the District Police Commander said the suspect first insisted that the licence was real but after thorough verification, it was found out that it was actually a forged one.

“When Police officers told him that he was using a fake licence, Ntawihoreye first tried to prove them wrong arguing that he did the practical tests in Nyarugenge district and passed, and collected it from Nyarugenge Police Station,” SSP Zigira said.

“But when verified with the traffic department, we found out that it has never issued this licence and it had no record of the number indicated on the confiscated permit,” he added.

Forgery, under article 609 of the penal code is punished with a prison sentence of five to seven years and a fine of Rwf300, 000 to Rwf3 million.

SSP Zigira also revealed that they have encountered two similar forgery cases in the recent past.

He explained that although they can’t confirm that are fake driver’s licence in circulation, they can’t rule out that that there could be individuals or drivers actually holding them.

He advised Rwandans to follow normal and eased channels to acquire a driver’s licence instead of “taking impossible shortcuts because in one way or another, they will be arrested.”