Rwanda National Police

As we enter into the last week of January, the Rwanda National Police conducted various activities in the seven days under review, as it continues to enforce law and order and to ensure a crime-free environment for all that facilitates sustainable development.

On January 23, thirty Police officers completed a five-day course in ‘Customer Care and Public Relations’ at the RNP headquarters in Kacyiru as the force continues to build and improve the ability of its personnel in providing quality services.

The training was conducted in partnership with the Workforce Development Authority (WDA), in line with national development programmes and a total 210 officers will benefit the same training this year.

PNP, REMA reignite efforts to protect eco-system

RNP and Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) held a consultative meeting on January 22, to reignite efforts, share knowledge on environment laws to protect the eco-system.

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) engaged officials from REMA on areas of environment and sustainable development, environmental policy and regulations in Rwanda, state of environment as well as responsibilities of the public in preventiving environmental degradation.

Rachael Tushabe, the Director for Environmental Education and Mainstreaming at REMA, commended the role of Police in curbing individuals who destroy the environment through selfish acts like deforestation and land degradation and dangerous gas emissions.

Mobile Police Station services goes to Eastern Province

The RNP Mobile Police Station vehicle services continued in the Eastern Province on January 22, where hundreds of area residents from Rwamagana district lined up in Karenge Cell of Nzige Sector to report injustices committed against them.

Officials from the Ministry of Justice and local leaders attended the exercise as hundreds of area residents lined up to lodge their complaints while many others came to see and get more information on the Mobile Police Station services.

The service is particularly extended to citizens residing or working in places located far away from Police stations, whereby, a mobile vehicle treks through the terrain searching for those wishing to make complaints or to report injustices committed against them.

The services first reached out to residents in Bugesera and Kamonyi districts respectively and since then, the vehicles have served hundreds of residents.
More female Police officers depart for UN missions

Eighty RNP Individual Police Officers (IPOs), 73 of them females, on January 25, left for a one year peacekeeping operations in four separate United Nations missions.

40 females were deployed under the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), 28 of which 21 are females to South Sudan (UNMISS), 10 to Ivory Coast (UNOCI) while two others were deployed under the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

During the pre-deployment briefing on January 22, the Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana challenged the officers to be focused to the mission mandate in a professional manner.

“Uphold the Rwandan and RNP values, work within the boundaries of your mission with discipline and avoid negative tendencies,” IGP Gasana said.
He urged them to work with other peacekeepers, ensure continuous improvement in their tasks and be catalysts to peace and stability in their respective missions.

Burundian arrested with money stolen from Uganda

Police in Kigali arrested a Burundian national identified as Chadrack Mugwaneza, on January 19, suspected to have stolen money from Uganda and crossed to Rwanda.

Mugwaneza, 27, together with other two people, are said to have connived and stole Ushs6 million from a petrol station, where they were all working.

He was arrested in a hotel in Nyabugogo where Rwf519,000, which is alleged to be part of the stolen money he had already exchanged into Rwandan currency, was also recovered from him.

The arrest followed a complaint failed by a member of the victim's family, who noted that Mugwaneza could have escaped to Rwanda and was headed to Burundi, after stealing the money.

Motorists apprehend their own over narcotic trafficking

Anastase Habamenshi, a 28 year old commercial motorcycle operator in Kigali, was apprehended by his colleagues in Musanze district and handed him to Police after they found him carrying 30 kilogrammes of cannabis on January 19.

Luck was not on Habamenshi’s side although he tried to speed-off, but the motorcyclists pursued and apprehended him, a community policing act that Police commended, which is required among all Rwandans and commercial motorcyclists in particular to combat drug abuse and other crimes in the country, jointly.

Police amplifies role in community development

On January 21, Police in Nyanza District joined residents of Nyagatovu sector in the construction of classrooms under the 12 Year Basic Education programme.

The officers helped to lay up foundation and leveling of three classroom blocks at Nyagatovu Secondary School in a bid to provide shelter for the students.

“Rwanda Police is always a partner in development, and today, they have indicated that they have more to offer than their primary role of keeping law and order,” Director of Nyagatovu, Dieu Ntuyimana, said in an interview.

“These new classrooms being constructed will help to take care of the growing number of students and give them the kind of quality education that 12 Year Basic Education program offers.”

The ordeal of human trafficking victim; RNP response

On Tuesday January 20, RNP run a feature story on human trafficking in Rwanda, depicting a teenage girl, who had been trafficked in Zambia but was rescued in a joint operation between Interpol Kigali and their counterparts of Zambia.

The man convinced the girl how this was a well-paying job, how it will change her life and that of her poor family and how he would cater for all the expenses including securing a passport, transport fare, feeding and accommodation, little did she know that she would soon be a victim of human trafficking.

Before she realized the fate of slavery and misery that awaited her, she was already at the Zambian border through Tanzania and Uganda, on her way to the “shadow” job in Zambia.

While at the Zambian border, the man bluntly told her that he was actually not going to get her a job but rather, he intended to make her his wife.

She was then forcefully transported to the capital Lusaka through a bus terminal.

“When I told him that I was not ready for marriage, he confiscated my passport and threatened to hurt me and that no one would know. He told me that I owed him all the money he had spent on me for the journey,” says the Murekatete.

Luckily enough, Murekatete had earlier followed her instincts that she was headed to danger and at this point she had already contacted her parents back home, who were also immediate to inform Rwanda National Police and Interpol Kigali had already contacted their counterparts in Lusaka and already investigating every development and was rescued days later.

Murekatete is among other Rwandans that have tasted the wrath of human trafficking, although some don’t get such golden chances to reach out to their people for rescue.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Tony Kuramba, said that the RNP has put various measures in place including reforms in the law, training more police officers in investigating human trafficking cases, working with regional and international police forces and organizations, and extending the Interpol I-24/7 to all border posts to share information and arrest people involved in this modern day slavery business.

Man arrested for attempting to bribe Police officer

A man identified as Jean Nepo Twahirwa, 29, was apprehended at Nyamata Police station on January 23, over attempting to bribe a Police officer in order to release his brother who had been apprehended after he was caught in unlawful activities.

Twahirwa, a resident of Rurenge Cell in Mwogo Sector was arrested on January 23 at Nyamata Police station where he had gone to check on his brother, who had been caught with other people the previous day in connection with drug-related crimes.

On reaching at the station, Twahirwa tried to blind the eyes of the officer on duty with a bribe amounting to Rwf70, 000, but was instead apprehended.
1700 litres of seized illicit brew destroyed

Over 1700 litres of banned gin and locally made illicit brew seized in joint operations conducted in Gatsibo and Huye districts were destroyed in presence of area residents on January 22 with a stern warning for tough actions to anyone that will be caught in related crimes.

In Huye, over 1350 litres of a locally made illicit drink labeled in the area as Nyirantare were seized in operations conducted in the villages of Nyamirunde, Kamunyinya, Ngeri and Kavumu in Rugango cell of Mbazi sector.

The operations were conducted jointly by Police, local authorities and the District Administrative Security Support Organ (DASSO).

Also seized and destroyed in Nyanza are 69 bundles of plastic bags and eight sacks of industrial fertilizers allegedly stolen from farmers and was being used to make the illicit brew

In Gatsibo, the destroyed drugs in a public exercise held in Munini, Rwimbogo Sector, included 280 litres of crude gin called Kanyanga, 296 boxes of Chief Waragi.

The gin was seized in separate operations conducted in Rwimbogo, which is believed to be the sector with majority cases related to drug abuse in Gatsibo.

About 10 people were arrested in the two districts in connection with drug-related crimes.

Other activities

Across the country, Police continued with its awareness programmes aimed at sensitizing the public against criminal activities like drug abuse, corruption, GBV and human trafficking and urging parents to act responsibly and monitor their children to prevent drowning.