RNP launch preps for 16th anniversary fete

A weeklong of activities in the buildup to the 16th anniversary of Rwanda National Police (RNP) starts today with efforts directed towards raising awareness against child abuse, among other high impact crimes, across the country.

The week-long exercise dubbed ‘Police Week’, conducted in the context of  community policing efforts, climaxes with the ‘Police Day’ on June 16, the date when the Force was created in the year 2000.

The RNP was created as a merger of the former Gendarmerie Nationale, Communal Police, and the Judicial Police Inspectors, three uncoordinated entities that had the police mandate at the time.

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Damas Gatare, the commissioner for Community Policing in RNP, police officers, as a norm, will be joined by the general population in various activities geared towards showcasing the importance of partnerships in crime identification and prevention.

“This year’s celebration activities will be held under the theme, ‘Stand up for Child Protection.’ This means that campaigns will be bent along the line of the theme to increase public awareness and responsibility to protect children and to enhance mechanisms for collaboration in service delivery and accountability,” said ACP Gatare.

The official launch of the ‘Police Week’, he explained, will be held at one identified Police Station in each province and the City of Kigali.

At the national level, it will be held at Kigali Metropolitan Police Headquarters in Remera, Gasabo District.

“In the course of the week, RNP will also hold a ‘Police Open Day’ because in all that we are doing we have to be accountable to the people, but along the way, the awareness campaigns will also tackle issues related to gender based violence, the emerging threat of human trafficking, drug abuse and road safety,” Gatare added.

16 years of partnership in policing

“Today, RNP is celebrating a milestone in the last 16 years of dedicated policing under the grand guidance and leadership of President Paul Kagame.”

“This landmark, that has made Rwanda one of the safest countries across the globe, where people feel safe at all times, can be traced in the RNP’s priority areas that include capacity building, community policing, crime prevention and reduction strategy, international cooperation and welfare and infrastructure development, among others.”