Police officers operating in the City of Kigali held a one-day workshop, yesterday, on Police-Media working relations.
This was part of initiatives geared at strengthening the existing partnership between the Rwanda National Police (RNP) and the media fraternity.
Held at Kigali Metropolitan Police headquarters in Remera, the workshop was presided over by the Regional Police Commander-Central, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rogers Rutikanga and the Rwanda National Police(RNP) spokesperson, ACP Theos Badege.
The Executive Secretary of Rwanda Media Commission (RMC), Emmanuel Mugisha also attended to share views from media practitioners.
ACP Badege pointed to the importance of the partnership noting that the media is essential in ensuring that Rwandans are informed on different matters of national development including sharing information that supports the police in crime prevention efforts as part of the community policing drive.
“Police and media are partners and share the same obligation to professionally implement and enforce the access to information law,” ACP Badege said.
He further emphasised that the RNP is eager to engage in dialogue forums with the media in order to enhance professionalism in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the duties that are of utmost importance to both parties.
On his part, Mugisha said that the working relations between the media and police has tremendously improved due to the existing RNP structures that ensure that journalists get information and thanked the RNP for creating such platforms.
Police officers and RMC also discussed on various cases where journalists and the police have conflicted, and exchanged ideas how both sides can work together in a way that doesn’t effect the duties of the others.
Mugisha observed that accredited journalists, who should be given access to information in that capacity, are only those holding press cards and assured the police that he will do his part to sensitize journalists to always carry with them these cards so that they may get the facilitation they need to do their work.
Source:Police
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