RNP at 16: Policing for development

Undeniably, Rwanda is fast becoming the privileged destination for major international conferences. Under just two years (2015-2016) Rwandans proudly welcomed nearly 1,000 delegates for the East Africa Petroleum Conference in March 2015; over 1,500 for Transform Africa in October 2015; and over 1500 for Interpol General Assembly from 190 countries in November 2015. Again, over 2500 were here for the World Economic Forum on Africa last month and, just this week, Kigali played host to about 1500 delegates for the 7th Africa Agriculture Science Week and the General Assembly of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). Come this July, Rwanda will host more than 3,000 delegates for the African Union Summit. And, in October, around 2,500 people are expected here to participate in African Driven Purpose Conference. During the past two years Rwanda was recognised as one of the best improver in Africa by renowned international firms. In May, the 2016 Africa Prosperity Report by a UK-based think tank, Legatum Institute, listed Rwanda as the most improved country in 2016. All these great achievements are, without doubt, a result of the visionary leadership of President Paul Kagame, but also the efforts of all women and men in private and public institutions of this great nation. Role of police The professionalism and high quality service, accountability and transparency, integrity and team work of Rwanda National Police contributed towards building a safer and secure platform to attract investors and to make Rwanda a preferred conference destination. Many international reports can prove that. For instance, Gallup’s Law and Order 2015 index ranked Rwanda among few countries globally (5th) that have tightened safety and security of citizens, hence enabling people to freely walk alone at night. The 2015 Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) scorecard indicated that 97.6 per cent of Rwandans have confidence in the Rwanda National Police. By and large, the mandate of a national police force is to “serve and protect”. In other words, it is to keep order, catch the bad guys, investigate crimes, respond to emergency calls and help people in times of emergencies or natural disaster, protect citizens on road and penalize violators of road safety rules, fight against illegal protests… etc. This is different in Rwanda. To serve and protect people is not enough. Rwanda National Police (RNP), in valuable partnership with other public and private institutions, is fully involved in the human security activities. This is informed by the fact that poverty, poor living conditions and unhealthy population can as well be source of insecurity. This way, RNP clearly understood the vision of President Kagame when he said: “Development can only take place on the foundation of law and order…law enforcement agencies, therefore, have a crucial role in ensuring peaceful conditions within which citizens can fully participate in prosperity and wellbeing of their communities.” ‘Police Week’ Since 2010, RNP has been engaged in ‘Police-Week’ activities aimed at ensuring the human security of Rwandans from personal to family level. RNP knows well that human development is not achievable without human security which combines economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security and political security. It is in that regard that during its 6th Police Week which ends today, as usual, RNP continued to work in a proactive partnership with people to identify and solve their problems. The Police Week activities end today, on the day dubbed ‘Police Day’ to coincide with the 16thanniversary of the Force. In this year’s celebrations, pre-anniversary activities concentrated on protection of children in all spheres, including drug abuse, gender based violence, human trafficking and road safety. Over the years, RNP through outreach activities, has provided health and medical services to the people, built shelter for vulnerable citizens, rehabilitated schools, planted trees and sensitised people on community policing in crime prevention, among others. Beyond that, our police force has marshaled all necessary efforts to provide a safe and crime free environment for all not only for the citizens, but also the people who continue to visit our country in their thousands either as tourists or to attend international meetings. The writer is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Security.

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RNP at 16: Policing for development