At least 3,000 people have been intercepted by police in different parts of the country for violating the night curfew ever since Rwanda partially lifted the COVID-19 lockdown nearly two weeks ago, police have said.

Since May 4, Rwanda eased the countrywide lockdown, a move that allowed many of the businesses to reopen including public transport.

Citizens were also allowed to make movements outside their homes during the day but banned all movements between 8PM and 5 AM except with a few with special permission depending on the nature of their services, or those with emergencies.

According to police, there have been some cases of violations of the night curfew, and a number of people and vehicles have been caught in such offenses.

"We stop a number of people who have violated the guidelines in regard to the prevention of COVID-19. We have arrested around 3,000 people across the country, and close to 2,000 vehicles that violate the restricted travel between 5 AM to 8 PM,” said John Bosco Kabera the Spokesperson of the Rwanda National Police in an interview with The New Times.

According to Kabera, police use different measures to deal with those caught in curfew violations.

These may range from just educating them about the regulations to punishments like fines depending on the circumstances in which one is caught.

"People give various reasons (for not respecting the curfew). Those who have valid reasons are let go and are assisted to move and continue with their businesses even throughout the night. These include those who operate essential services or critical infrastructure across the country.”

He said police face some challenges in enforcing the regulations, and these include people who lie to officers and others who engage in even more serious offences like drink-driving.

However, he noted that there is an improvement in how people are respecting the curfew now than it was in the early days of the easing of the lockdown, thanks to information campaigns on radio, TV, social media, among other mediums.

"The numbers have drastically reduced ever since we started on May 4. We arrested many people at the start, and these days they are very few compared to the previous weeks.”

"We ask Rwandans to obey and respect the instructions and directives in regard to the prevention of the spread of COVID-19. We have been going through various stages; we started with the lockdown then from there some services were opened. We are trying to enforce the instructions and we ask them to keep calm, respect the instructions.”

The current measures will be in place until May 18, after which further instructions will be issued depending on where the country will be in terms of the prevalence of the virus.