KIGALI - The Rwanda National Police have for the first time published the names and photographs of its officers, who were recently sacked on corruption accusations. Sixty photos of the fired officers were published yesterday in The New Times, following a November 2 Cabinet decision to sack them and make their identities public. The officers’ police service numbers were also published.Three of them are women. Their names were also published in Izuba, a bi-weekly sister newspaper to The New Times, and Imvaho, a government paper. “We thought it is pertinent to display them in newspapers so that they don’t masquerade to the public as serving officers,” Police Spokesman Inspector Willy Marcel Higiro, said yesterday. Government recently sacked a total of 127 policemen over various misconduct behaviours. Sixty-three of them were accused of corruption.The Cabinet also endorsed a Prime Minister’s order sacking two other junior police officers. Higiro said that the exposure would also serve as a lesson to serving members of the Police force to refrain from any behaviour that is contrary to the disciplinary code of conduct governing the institution. Asked why not all those expelled were made public, Higiro said: “Those that were displayed are the most dangerous elements that we thought may continue spreading corruption in the society.” He did not specify which particular units most of the sacked policemen were working in although he admitted that traffic police was among them. He called on the public to contribute to the fight against corruption, saying that the giver and receiver of bribery equally share criminal responsibility. Deputy Commissioner General of Police (Operations) Mary Gahonzire said last week that the Police had fowarded files for the sacked policemen that committed criminal offences to the Prosecution. RNP has previously sacked scores of other police men and officers over corruption and other disciplinary cases. The move is part of a wider crackdown on suspected corrupt officials.Ends
