Thirty-one senior police students from ten African countries currently attending the fourth intake of the ‘Police Senior Command and Staff Course’ at the National Police College (NPC) in Musanze District, yesterday, left for a week-long external study tour to Ethiopia.

The students are from, Burundi, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya, Namibia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda, the host.

According to Commissioner of Police (CP) Felix Namuhoranye, the Commandant of NPC, who is leading the delegation, the external study tour is designed to "provide course participants with the opportunity to undertake an in-depth study by transforming the theoretical aspects leant into reality.”

"This will be done by analysing the police and security establishment, history, geo-political environment and socio-economic initiatives made in ensuring their security and stability,” CP Ntamuhoranye said.

The tour runs under the theme, ‘Socio-economic Development, Good Governance and Justice as pillars of peace and security.’

The study tour scheduled to end on June 18, will cover aspects of security, governance, economic development, diplomacy and cooperation, and justice, CP Namuhoranye said.

"The choice of Ethiopia as a suitable place for the visit was informed by various success attributes relevant to the area of study of the Police Senior Command and Staff Course, including the remarkable speed in socio-economic development, industrialisation, security, stability, diplomacy and cooperation,” he explained.

During their stay in Ethiopia, the students are expected to visit several establishments and institutions, including the Federal Police Commission of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa City Administration, Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University and Bishoftu Automotive Car Assembly.

"The ultimate goal, considering the multinational makeup of course participants, is a comparative analysis of what was observed during internal study tour in Rwanda, what will be observed in Ethiopia and the practice within each course participant’s respective country with a view to suggesting solutions to existing challenges and thus contributing to the existing literature. This will be done in form of service paper writing,” said CP Namuhoranye.

The students are expected to identify lessons from the visit and examine how they could facilitate cooperation in the fight against transnational organised crimes.