Crime down by 5%

The level of crime in the country has continued to decrease, indicating a 5.6 percent reduction between January and June this year, the Minister of Internal Security, Sheikh Musa Fazil Harelimana, said yesterday. The minister was speaking at a press conference held at the Rwanda National Police headquarters in Kacyiru, called to highlight the country’s current security situation. He said 7,590 cases of crimes were registered in the past six months, down from 8,026 recorded between July and December last year. The minister attributed the reduction to stringent measures initiated by the Police in partnership with the public through community policing. Harelimana outlined assault, drug abuse and theft as some of the major crimes registered in the past six months. Accidents Road accidents, he said, also reduced by 43.8 percent to 1,324 cases down from 2,356 cases recorded in previous period, which also led to the reduction in deaths from 141 to 97. “The regional and international meetings held in the country were all incident-free with no accidents or loss of property,” Harelimana added. Rwanda hosted a number of local and international meetings this year, including the African Development Bank Annual General meeting which brought together over 3,000 participants, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Interpol meeting on genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, Women In Parliament, Tripartite Summit and the Pan-African Youth Conference. The country also held commemorations to mark the 20th anniversary of the Genocide and Liberation which were attended by thousands, including Heads of State and international organisations. Fighting graft Only nine cases of corruption within the force were registered in which seven were Non-Commissioned Officers and two junior officers. Twenty six civilians, most of them drivers, were also apprehended attempting to bribe police officers. Between July and December last year, 78 cases of corruption in the force were reported. Speaking at the same news briefing, the Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana, said the decrease in graft-related cases was due to tough measures initiated, including dismissal of implicated officers. “It is very clear; any Police officer caught in graft related crimes is dismissed from the force with no compromise. Be it a bribe of Rwf500 or Rwf1 million, we treat it the same,” the IGP said. The force established the anti-corruption department, Police Disciplinary Unit (PDU), Ethics training centre and quarterly inspection and audits as some of the measures to fight graft in the force. He also outlined improving the welfare of the officers, online registration especially for driving licences, decentralisation of Motor Vehicle Mechanical Inspection Centre and the opening of hotlines as the other initiatives that have led to the reduction of corruption cases in the force. During the session, concerns were also raised over the threat posed by the genocidal forces – FDLR – holed up in the jungles of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. “FDLR is not only a threat to Rwanda but also to the entire region. This is a terrorist organisation working with other negative groups like RNC [Rwanda National Congress] and other regional terror groups with intent to destabilise Rwanda,” the Police Chief said. “With the good partnership between security organs and the general public, we apprehended 44 people connected to these terror groups, who were trying to coordinate or carryout subversive activities in the country, and also recovered eight guns and 21 grenades, which they intended to use,” he added. “There is security in Rwanda and there will be no hesitation to use all possible means to stop whoever tries to destabilise it,” Gasana warned.