Rwandan peacekeepers leave for Haiti

A contingent of 160 police officers, under the Formed Police Unit 3 (FPU3), will today depart to Haiti to serve under the UN Mission for Stabilisation in Haiti (MINUSTAH).The contingent, led by Chief Supt Desire Twizere, will replace another contingent (also 160) under FPU2, which completed its nine months mission and is scheduled to return tomorrow.FPUs, among others, provide humanitarian assistance, conduct patrols and guard VIPs and key installations.They also help in crowd control and provide security of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).In his pre-deployment briefing at the police headquarters in Kacyiru, yesterday, the Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel Gasana urged the officers to be exemplary and maintain discipline and professionalism during their tour of duty.“Execute your duties professionally and strive to raise our country’s flag high. Rwanda has earned itself a good name on the international scene,” said Gasana.The maiden FPU contingent comprising of 160 police officers was deployed in Haiti in January 30, 2011 and was replaced by the same number under FPU2 on December 15, 2011.Unfortunately, those who return will be one man short, following the death last week of one peacekeeper who was shot to death by a colleague under circumstances that are still under investigation. The mission was deployed mainly to oversee relief activities after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the country in 2010, killing over 200,000 people and leaving millions homeless.Rwanda National Police maintains over 450 peacekeepers serving under the UN missions in Liberia, Ivory Coast, Darfur, South Sudan and Haiti.Its officers have been awarded for their professionalism and discipline in executing their duties by the UN. The country is ranked the eighth in providing police peacekeepers worldwide by the international community.The UN also ranked Rwanda the first of 84 countries in providing female individual police officers.The United Nations has also requested Rwanda to deploy a contingent of FPU in Liberia next year.