One hundred and forty police officers under Formed Police Unit (FPU), will tomorrow depart for a peacekeeping mission in Mali.

The maiden contingent to serve for one year in the West African nation includes 17 females.

The contingent will be headed by Chief Superintendent Bertin Mutezintare.

While briefing the contingent yesterday, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Emmanuel K. Gasana, urged them to raise the country’s flag high by acting professionally and upholding discipline.

He also told them to stick to the force’s core values and be good ambassadors.

"Make good use of the training acquired to fulfill your mission assignments to bring about peace in Mali,” the IGP told the officers at the Police General headquarters in Kacyiru.

Rwanda maintains about 600 police peacekeepers in eight missions including Haiti, Sudan, Liberia, Ivory Coast and South Sudan. 

Last year, Rwanda National Police inaugurated the Peacekeeping Training Centre at the Police Training School (PTS) in Gishari, and has since trained police officers from both Rwanda and regional countries.

In September, the Director of the Eastern Africa Standby Force Coordination Mechanism (EASFCOM) – police component – Maj. Gen (retired) Cyrille Ndayirukiye paid a courtesy call on IGP Gasana, during which they disccussed a partnership in peacekeeping pre-deployment training.

"Rwanda National Police is advanced; we, therefore, came to discuss on how they can help us in areas of training, especially in peacekeeping missions,” Ndayirukiye said then.

"It has deployed peacekeepers to different countries all over the world; they have deployed FPUs [Formed Police Unit]; you cannot deploy FPU unless you meet the UN required standards. This, therefore, confirms clearly to us that RNP is the right Police organ to help us in the field of training,” he stated.

Rwanda’s Major Gen. Jean-Bosco Kazura is the force commander of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (Minusma).