Security stepped up following grenade attack

KIGALI - Following Thursday’s attack at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, security measures at the site have been increased. A police constable was killed on Thursday evening when an unknown person threw a grenade at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre main entrance where he stood guard. “It was grave and unfortunate. But the security has been beefed up,” information Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo said on Friday. All visiting the Gisozi centre now have to undergo security checks. A spokesperson for the police said that security countrywide had been improved to prevent any further incidents. Police have been instructed to be more vigilant. By press time, no arrests had been made over the Genocide museum incident. The minister said the attack confirms that those harbouring the genocide ideology are still active. “They are telling the world that they exist and they don’t want to repent for their crimes,” Mushikiwabo added in a telephone interview. The policeman, Ignace Munyantamati, died instantly. His colleague, Jacques Ntimugura, was rushed to King Faisal Hospital after sustaining injuries. The policemen were both standing on guard at the Gisozi-based museum’s main gate near the road. “The grenade was thrown by someone on the road in front of the museum entrance,” Richard Nkurikiyinka, a Local Defence Unit personnel who also guards the country’s main Genocide memorial was quoted as saying. Said Mushikiwabo: “People should remain calm and go about their daily activities.” She said the attackers should not think they would escape justice no matter how long it takes. Police are also investigating the motives of a driver who hit a group of mourners near Kigali Institute of Management (KIM), on the Kigali-Kayonza highway, killing one university student and injuring four others. The mourners had just emerged from laying wreaths at the graves of Genocide victims near the institute. The car steered right into the group of students around 7:10 p.m. Thursday. It is not yet known whether the two incidents that occurred around the same time were coordinated or coincidental. In an impromptu press briefing at his office Friday, the Commissioner General of Police, Andrew Rwigamba, said that police were still carrying out investigations into both cases. Police said the driver had violated traffic rules because he crossed from his lane to the opposite side. They identified the dead student as Fred Gasasira, a first year management student. Ends