Rwanda National Police

A five-man delegation from Zimbabwe Republic Police visited Rwanda National Police (RNP) on Tuesday as part of their four-day study tour on policing in the country.

The delegation headed by Commissioner Erasmus Makodza, the Officer Commanding Police for East part of Zimbabwe, was received at the RNP Headquarters in Kacyiru by Commissioner of Police (CP) Bruce Munyambo, the Commissioner for Community Policing.

According to Commissioner Makodza, their visit is aimed at understanding how the police works with the community in enhancing proactive policing.

During the meeting, the visiting officers were given an overview of RNP since it was created 19 years ago, its background and shared experience on how the force works hand-in-hand with the public through community policing.

“RNP embraces modern policing by emphasizing a people-centered approach, building public trust and strong partnership in crime prevention towards sustainable security and development," CP Munyambo said.
 
He added: “In 2010, RNP in collaboration with its policing partners implemented an annual campaign dubbed ‘Police Week’, which later extended to ‘Police Month’ due to its human security impact on Rwandan society and an overall positive behavioral change.”

CP Munyambo noted that Police Month activities focus on public awareness campaign on crime prevention and socio-economic development activities to improve the wellbeing of Rwandans.

Commissioner Makodza said that the Zimbabwe Republic Police wants to learn from RNP’s experience as one of the best Police institutions on the continent.

“We intend to have a police day and we did consultations at national level, but we realized that it is important to benchmark in one of our African Police forces where the ideology has been successful," Commissioner Makodza said.

He added: "When we did research we found that Rwanda is among best performing countries in all aspects of community policing, and it's a good idea to learn from our colleagues."

“We have been discussing with our fellow commissioners from Rwanda, we have learnt a lot. We realized that there is a department charged with the relations between Police and the community. We understood that we have to work closely with the public,” Commissioner Makodza explained.

He noted that the Police can’t work alone and working with the community increases trust and leads to a smooth running of daily Police activities.
 
The delegation will also Visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi to pay homage to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Police schools and various District Police Units, among other places.