Police force understaffed - MP

KIGALI - A member of the Chamber of Deputies has said that the Rwanda National Police is facing a deficit in personnel, which needs to be fixed urgently. Julienne Uwacu was speaking yesterday at the Rwanda National Headquarters in Kacyiru after a meeting between top police officials and the members of the committees on Security and Territorial Integrity in both Chambers of Parliament. “We visited several districts and the issue of numbers kept coming up. This hinders the efficiency of the force,” said Uwacu. She explained that the committees will consider the issue and push for a solution in the next fiscal year. The legislator, however, noted that the challenge has not stopped the RNP from performing a commendable job.Senator Valens Munyabagisha also told the media that the police force was running on an insufficient budget. He, however, added: “I am happy to note that so many important achievements have been registered since our last visit in 2008”. The Senator, who chairs the upper chamber’s Committee on Security and Territorial Integrity, cited increased road safety and streamlining the issuance of driving permits as some of the areas where the national police has improved tremendously. According to the police spokesperson Theos Badege, the police force has slightly more than 10,000 officers. This means that the ratio is one officer per 1000 citizens. “This was our initial target. It was accomplished two years ahead of the targeted period. So our next target is one officer per 650 citizens,” Badege said. He also said that the increase in the number of personnel would also help in availing more Rwandan police officers for international peacekeeping missions. The force maintains peacekeepers in several countries. Ends