Rwanda National Police (RNP) has announced that it will deploy 140 officers in restive Mali later this month as part of continued international efforts aimed at restoring peace in the country.

RNP on Monday invited a UN technical team to inspect its Contingent Owned Equipment (COE) ahead of the deployment in the West African nation, the Force said today.

The equipment, which include a fleet of 30 vehicles comprised of trucks, breakdown, ambulances, coaster buses, buffalo SUVs, water plants, electric generators and a folk lifter, is part of the facilities needed for the mission.

"COE is needed because this is the first mission deployment of Rwandan peacekeepers in Mali," RNP Spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Theos Badege, said in a statement.

The development comes just weeks after the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Rwanda’s Maj Gen Jean-Bosco Kazura as the Force Commander of the newly instituted United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (Minusma). 

Rwanda National Police maintains more than 450 peacekeepers in eight countries around the world.