English
Kinyarwanda
Residents of Rwamagana have pledged to increase efforts against gender-based-violence and child abuse by collaborating more with Rwanda National Police (RNP) and other security agencies and providing timely information.
The call was made on June 4, during a community meeting organized in Nyakariro Sector, Rwamagana District, which attracted RNP officers, other security agencies, local leaders and hundreds of residents to increase dialogue about crime prevention.
During the discussions, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Theos Badege, Commissioner for CID, noted that timely information is very necessary in preventing and solving crimes – and it is through community policing that a mutual relationship built on trust can be built between police and residents.
“Police established the Gender Desk Directorate and Isange One-Stop Centre and other initiatives which offer services to victims of GBV at no cost, and also offered are emergency investigations at the moment we receive credible and timely information about any crime,” he said.
“Do not let GBV and child abuses go unreported. Police is here to work with you to solve such crimes and other challenges in society. Therefore, as residents you have a responsibility to play your part in protecting your communities by observing the law at all times and also collaborating with Police to overcome crimes.”
The Executive Secretary of Nyakariro sector, Alphonse Niyonzima, told residents at the community meeting that they should understand their individual roles in ending GBV by sensitizing their communities about equality and the need to protect women and children rights.
“Working together will send out a strong message to those in the habit of torturing women and children that they cannot commit a crime and escape justice. Through community policing, we can together with Police ensure that crimes are prevented or solved in time and that social justice is upheld,” he said.
Superintendent Beline Mukamana, the head of anti-Gender-based Violence and Child Protection Directorate at RNP, urged parents, guardians and the general public to immediately come forward with information to Police in cases of defilement and rape and others cases of GBV, noting that Police has the ability to conduct quality investigations in such cases.
Residents in the area also made reports and complaints to RNP through the Mobile Police Station Vehicle, which was introduced last year to extend police services to citizens living or working in places far away from Police stations.
