Rwanda has the most professional Police force in Africa – German Ambassador

The Germany Ambassador to Rwanda, Peter Fahrenhotz, has commended Rwanda National Police (RNP) for its high-level professionalism and commitment to upgrade skills of its officers, which has enabled the force to sustain the peace and security of Rwanda.

This was disclosed by the German ambassador to Rwanda Peter Fahrenhotz at the opening of a six-day training of 16 Rwanda National Police (RNP) officers in ‘fundamentals of intercultural competence and communication for policing’ in Kigali.

“I appreciate very much the good work of RNP and its officers. I have witnessed high dedication and commitment of Rwanda National Police. I also see a high degree of integrity and honesty among the police officers which is very important,” Fahrenhotz said.

“I have been in many African countries and I believe RNP is the best in Africa. If you look at the development of Rwanda as an ambitious country with its vision 2020 that leads the country to becoming a middle income economy…there is no doubt Rwanda will achieve its goals.”

“There is no developed country that doesn’t have a good police force. There is a clear connection between having development, good governance, good politics and having a good police force; you cannot separate them.  Rwanda understands well the need for these principles and the country is moving ahead; I want to wish Rwanda success in its endeavors,” he noted.

He related the intercultural competence training to Rwanda’s peacekeeping contribution.

“Rwanda being a strong supporter and contributor of officers and troops in peacekeeping missions, officers deal with locals in those missions whose way of thinking is completely different,” he said.

The lead trainer Katja Birnfeld-Raskin from German Federal Criminal Police office said that the intercultural competence is the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with people of other cultures

“This course is very important for the officers to have so that when they carry out their work, they do it without discrimination especially when an officer is dealing with people of different culture,” she said.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) in charge of Administration and Personnel, Juvenal Marizamunda pointed out that RNP recognizes contemporary policing challenges in a world that is facing transnational threats such as terrorism, cyber crimes and human trafficking and drug dealing among others.

“It is evident that it’s only through cooperation that we can be able to handle such emerging crimes. Such cooperation involves forces from different countries, different backgrounds and culture since the world has become a global village, policing is taking place in an international and challenging environment,” said the DIGP.

He went on to add that, capacity building is one of RNP’s key priorities and that the training of this kind has come at an opportune time.

RNP contributing to the National Employment Policy (NEP) is aligned with ensuring human security by educating nationals and also providing for their welfare and this in turn reduces criminality.