{Rwanda National Police has urged local leaders in Bugesera to ensure they take the lead in crime prevention and ensure they continuously meet with residents in anti-crime campaigns.}
The call was made by the District Police Commander Superintendent of Police (SP) Albert Mpumuro along with the Executive Secretary of Nyamata Sector Jacques Gashumba during a meeting with village and cell leaders of Nyamata Sector on March 28.
“Ensuring public safety is a duty of everyone; as local leaders you need to always sensitize people into crime prevention and information sharing because it is part of your responsibility ,” SP Mpumuro said.
Among the key areas that the DPC dwelt on, include sanitation, corruption, school dropouts and drug abuse.
“It has been proven that most criminals act under the influence of drugs, this is why we have embarked on anti-narcotics campaigns; we want to address cases of criminality from the roots by starting with the main cause which is drugs,” said SP Mpumuro.
With regards to drugs, the DPC outlined a long listed of illicit substances that local leaders should discourage their residents from consuming; they include cannabis, Suzi, Kanyanga and muriture among others.
“As parents and guardians, we need to nurture the culture of engaging our children and to firmly show them the bad effects of abusing drugs and alcohol. Owners of hospitality facilities like hotels, and bars, should be encouraged to play their role in protecting our teenagers since most of the activities occur in such places,” said the DPC.
In his address to the local leaders, the executive secretary, Gashumba thanked the police for its outreach programme and told his colleagues in local government that; “Police has showed us a clear picture of how dangerous drugs can be, but on the other hand, we have been reminded of our role to fight them, and that’s exactly what is expected of us.”
One of the village leaders who spoke on behalf of his colleagues Eugene Havugimana said that they pledge total commitment to ensure public safety in their jurisdictions and encourage the public to work closely with the police and local authorities in crime prevention.
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