The newly-formed Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) will help fast-track judicial coordination mostly between investigation and prosecution while enhancing professionalism, the State Minister for Constitutional and Legal affairs, Evode Uwizeyimana, has said.

Uwizeyimana was on Monday appearing in Parliament to defend a Bill dissolving Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and incorporating its mandate into Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) in line with laws governing security services.

Submitting the draft legislation, Uwizeyimana said the bureau will, among others, enhance professionalism and efficiency in conducting investigations and judicial police affairs.

"Should the Bill be approved, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau will be able to enhance professionalism and open-ended independence, unlike before. The bureau comes to replace the former CID, which was under Rwanda National Police,” he said, adding that the proposed organ will be answerable to the Ministry of Justice.

"We would equate the body to America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation, although our capacity is still very low, not copy-paste though. But it will help fast-track judicial coordination mostly between investigation and prosecution,” he added.

According to the minister, by establishing the bureau, the Government seeks to focus, on top of ordinary crimes, cross border crimes, cyber crimes, terror-related crimes and to expedite the affiliated services.

However, lawmakers questioned the possibility of overlapping functions.

The legislators tasked the minister to explain whether the legislation would not collide with other laws in place, specifically the law governing National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) and the Rwanda Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI).

"We already have a Bill at the committee level (foreign affairs and security) about NISS, it was still under scrutiny and if you look at some of the provisions, there are quite a number of similarities, aren’t we facing a situation of overlapping laws?” asked MP Jeanne D’Arc Nyinawase.

"We are also aware of a similar law under the Rwanda Defence Forces, which govern the functions, organisations and responsibilities of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, how are all these laws going to work together?”

The lawmakers also raised queries about logistics and required budget for the body to operate efficiently.

"To be able to run such an institution you need people with varied skills and equipment; are we there yet? Investigating crimes like those that are IT related involves several technicalities in that particular domain, can we do it?’ asked MP Agnes Mukazibera.

But Minister Uwizeyimana said functions of security service agencies won’t collide simply because the body will be linking institutions, including the judicial police and the prosecution.

"It should be clear that this Bureau will solely employ police officers, it is no way related to NISS nor to DMI, although I don’t see reason why they can’t work together,” he said.

"I understand there were also questions on how the Bureau will work closely with other Police departments, they will complement each other, that means traffic police can do its job and hand over a report to RIB in case a breach turns out to be a crime.”

The draft law governing the new status and functions of the proposed organ will be subject to more scrutiny in the parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security after which the draft will be again tabled before the plenary for the final deliberations.

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