Four men have been arrested in Nyagatare District for allegedly attempting to bribe police officers on duty to get away with traffic related offences.
The four men were arrested separately on February 5.
The suspects are identified as Alexandre Turihiwe, Gedeon Bizumutima, Onesphore Rukundo and Jean Paul Rutagarama.
Bizumutima and his driver, Turihiwe, were both arrested in Rukomo Sector as they attempted to bring a traffic police officer with Rwf5000, after their vehicle was found without the compulsory mechanical inspection certificate.
On the other hand, Rukundo was also apprehended in Rukomo where he attempted to offer a bribe of Rwf5, 000 to prevent being penalized for driving without a driver’s licence, while Rutagarama, who was arrested in Nyagatare Sector after he wired Rwf15, 000 to a police officer’s mobile account as a way of retrieving his confiscated driver’s licence after he was also found breaching traffic rules.
All suspects are held at Nyagatare police station.
Reacting to the arrests, the Eastern Region Police spokesperson, Inspector of Police (IP) Emmanuel Kayigi, said “At Rwanda National Police, we have adopted a zero tolerance policy toward corruption, so it’s high time people understood that attempting to bribe a Police officer, is no wisdom and they will be arrested.”
He warned the public against such malpractices, adding that “bribery or corruption will never be accommodated either in Rwanda National Police (RNP) or any in this country.”
“RNP taken a number of measures and will continue to stand against such malpractices, so the public should take that into account and remain law abiding instead of taking illegal shortcuts and avoid law enforcement procedures .”
Article 641 of the Penal Code stipulates that any person who directly or indirectly offers a gift in order to get an illegal service or refrain from carrying out their duties, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of between five and seven years or a fine of twice to 10 times the value of what they had offered in bribes, or both.
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