Rwanda National Police has made fresh appeal to the public to surrender any firearms in their possession.
According to ACP Sam Karemera, the National Focal Point Coordinator on small arms and light weapons, there is still need for timely sharing of information on the whereabouts of firearms and those that still keep them.
Community Policing Committees have also been urged to take such campaigns seriously.
A 12-year old Maldoche Dusingizimana died September 5, following a grenade explosion at their home in Nyarurama cell, Ntongwe sector, Ruhango District.
The blast took place right in their store- an indication that there are still firearms and weapons scattered or held illegally despite repeated calls to voluntarily surrender these dangerous weapons.
Although illegal possession of firearms has tremendously reduced, police information shows that firearms are still scattered in different parts of the country following the 1990-1994 war and the 1997 insurgency which affected most the northern part of the country.
Most of the weapons are said to have been distributed to the population by the genocidal government of Prime Minister Jean Kambanda in 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, especially in the Southern Province.
Subject to provisions of the Rwandan law, Article 671 of the penal code stipulates that ‘any person who illegally possesses, lends or gives an arm, or falsifies its identification marks, is liable to a term of imprisonment of six (6) months to one (1) year and a fine of three hundred thousand (300,000) to three million (3,000,000) Rwandan francs or one of these penalties.’
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