Rwanda National Police has recovered a truck which had been stolen from Japan. The vehicle, registration number BUC4274A, was intercepted on the Rwanda-Burundi border last Thursday en route from Uganda’s Jinja town. It was transporting 11 tonnes of goods, including cooking oil, and soap worth $13,200 (over Rwf9 million), belonging to one Gloria Uwimana, who had hired it to transport the items. Yesterday, Police displayed the vehicle before journalists in Kigali. CSP Celestin Twahirwa, the Rwanda National Police spokesperson, told journalists that the vehicle was reportedly stolen from Japan in January this year. “Japan agents had announced that the truck had been stolen from their country and sold in Burundi. The buyer is in Uganda but the owner of the goods it was carrying has no crime and will take her goods,” Twahirwa explained. Interpol uses a system called ‘I- 24/7’ that tracks and checks all vehicles crossing borders. This system indicated that the truck was stolen from Japan. It should be embraced everywhere so that whoever loses a vehicle can be helped to recover it as long as the case is reported, Twahirwa added. Uwimana commended the Police for keeping her goods safe. “We ordered for goods from the factory and then hired the track to transport them without knowing it was stolen. I applaud Rwandan Police for keeping our goods secure,” she said. She said Burundian clearing agents at Akanyaru border informed her that the truck transporting her goods had been intercepted. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
