Police warned against press harassment

Officers of Rwanda National Police (RNP) have been cautioned against bad conduct towards members of the press and encouraged to promote the institution’s image. The call was made by Emmanuel Butera, in charge of community policing during a training session at the Police Headquarters in Kacyiru. “You should avoid getting involved in scandalous acts because they (journalists) will be watching and the next headline in the papers will be police involved in corruption,” he said. As the rest of the world commemorated the International Day Against Corruption, some ninety officers from RNP were completing a five-day training on the subject. The officers were from different departments of the force including Traffic Police, Criminal Investigations Department (CID), and the Mobile Unit.They were entrusted with the responsibility of passing on the message to fellow officers back to their respective departments. Butera dismissed the school of thought that corruption within the force stems from the fact that the police are paid low wages giving an example of a well paid government official who was recently caught in the process of bribery. “A certain Permanent Secretary paid millions was arrested taking a bribe….how much money should he have earned to stop him from that corrupt act?” he questioned. Justin Nsengiyumva, former PS in the Ministry of Education was arrested trying to take a bribe from a supplier and has since escaped from police custody. He is now top of a police wanted list. Jeannot Ruhunga, the Director of Intelligence in the force, called upon the officers to respect and avoid abusing the police uniform and revealed new methods that will be enlisted to check the discipline of officers. “We will arrange with telephone companies to tap your conversations if necessary because we emphasize zero tolerance for any abuse of power in the force,” Ruhunga said. Ends