Rwanda partners with Burundi to fight crime

Police forces of Rwanda and Burundi have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation as a way of eliminating threats of emerging cross-border crimes.During the signing of an agreement yesterday at the police headquarters, the Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel Gasana and his counterpart, Fabien Ndayishimye, concurred that there was need for adoption of joint strategies to fight crime.The pact contained mutual assistance and legal harmonisation and other activities that would enhance combating cross-border crime.The two police chiefs said they would improve monitoring, information exchange and training to create robust forces that would curb emerging crimes that may compromise safety and security of citizens of both countries.Cyber crime is currently a global phenomenon and is the biggest menace to today’s society.Speaking to the media, Gasana, who currently heads the Eastern African Police body (EAPCO), said plans have been put in place to curtail the threatening crimes in the region.“We are currently training senior police planners from Burundi, Somalia and Sudan in matters related to fighting terrorism because we need to come up with collective measures,” Gasana said.The training is taking place in Musanze District.The Burundian police chief acknowledged Rwanda’s position on improving bilateral cooperation among the members of EAPCO, a move he said was the best to deal with crime in the region.‘This bilateral cooperation has come at a time when it is most needed, especially in the areas of information exchange,” Ndayishimye said.Regarding Genocide fugitives that are loitering in his country, Ndayishimye said his institution will continue sharing information on the fugitives who played a role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.“With this cooperation, we will continue developing mechanisms to track down these fugitives. We take Genocide as the highest crime and we are very serious about it,” Ndayighimye said.

National

Rwanda partners with Burundi to fight crime