It’s not uncommon to read news reports of a peasant making it big in life from as low as Rwf5000 investment. They would take time but their determination would pay off. A clean choice with an exemplary life to be proud of.

Yet Rwanda National Police (RNP) is reported to have seized and destroyed Kanyanga, valued at Rwf36 million, in Gicumbi District between January and February alone. That is just one district. Although Gicumbi has the highest rate of such illicit trade, the figure would mean that from all the 30 districts, the country probably has more than Rwf100 million going into waste every month.

This is because such investments are not open. Economically, they are deemed to go through tunnels, thus have no direct impact on the economic development of the country until such investments are later channeled into legal ventures.  

At the worst end of this gamble is the risk. Illicit trafficking and trade in drugs and other narcotics are as risky as they are expensive. From one literally surrendering to a life of being on the run to the chances of losing huge monies that would have gone into other legal investments, it is quite foolhardy to take the chance.

Drug deals might be lucrative but there is always a thick string attached to them that can best be understood in the popular saying that the disease that will kill you begins as an appetite.

But the problem with life and humans is the urge to make it through shortcuts. Humans by nature would want things the easy way. But in the Rwandan security setting, long shots are much longer given how policing has continued to dig every corner of the country.

The fact that RNP reports continue to indicate huge investments are being made in drugs suggests many more people are missing the ideals of exemplary livelihood and humility. The public need more education on best ways to invest their earnings.

There is also need to find ways to dispel the myths of dirty money. What works in one economy might not be a good idea to replicate in another due to different policing methods. People must be steered clear of risky investments that only draw them deeper into quagmire with each loss made.