Regional police officers complete course

Thirty police officers from South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi and Rwanda, yesterday completed a two-month course to effectively deal with today’s policing challenges caused by emerging security threats.The supervisory course, designed and conducted by the National Police Academy (NPA), covered areas of police operations, command, administration and supervisory duties.Speaking during the closure at the Police headquarters, the Minister of Internal Security, Sheikh Musa Fazil Harelimana, described the course as a milestone in professionalising the region’s police forces.“Today, security problems in the region or even worldwide cannot be dealt with in isolation,” he noted.“It’s imperative that our law enforcement institutions train together, share best practices and come out with synergetic strategies to deter and fight crimes in general and transnational organised crimes in particular.This was an opportunity to build your capacities and share experiences in order to improve performance, to acquire new skills and knowledge that you can use to increase the effectiveness”.He urged them to use the acquired skills to add value to their respective institutions and to put into consideration the importance of the intellect, inquisitive mind, knowledge and ability to “think outside the box” so as to meet the demands and challenges of modern policing.“Trust and cooperation should guide you to execute your responsibilities diligently with a high degree of professionalism,” said Harelimana.Lt Col Bior Abednego Majok, one of the participants from the South Sudan police force, said the course would help to transform their force, which still requires experience to tackle emerging crimes.“Having seen where Rwanda came from to be where it is today in terms of development, there is a lot to learn and to have courage and commitment that we will also get there, if we work together,” said Majok.“The unity and peace and cooperation among Rwandans are lessons to learn from to guide us in our development process,” he added.“Computer skills, internal security operations, understanding command dimensions, contemporary issues in policing, especially stressing every time on command and control, were very important and relevant lectures to our careers,” Lt. Col Samson Lukwasa Lomindait, the Director in the South Sudan Ministry of Interior, said.“Though we come from different countries and have different cultures, we share a common problem and common desire to our lives…every successful programme is the result of a collective effort,” Lukwasa added.