Rwanda National Police (RNP), yesterday, marked its 18th anniversary commending the immense role of various players and the citizenry in general for driving the philosophy of community policing, a major factor credited for fighting and preventing crimes and promoting safety.
The State Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Evode Uwizeyimana, who presided over the Police Day, said that the “18 years of RNP were not in vain; today we live in a safer country and governed by the system of partnership at all levels.”
“Security is the foundation of social welfare and sustainable development […] because of the existing partnership in policing, Rwanda is ranked one of the safest countries in the world,” the State Minister said. “Ensuring safety and security is a continuous act, it is a continuous journey, let’s continue to work together not to lean back. It requires laying effective strategies, strengthening partnership and teamwork to identify potential threats, share information and lay a ground for crime prevention. When a village is crime-free the country is safe and secure.”
The latest world internal security and Police index ranked Rwandan National Police as Africa’s second-best Police service after Botswana. The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Emmanuel K. Gasana thanked RNP’s partners and reflected the journey of the body in terms of security and called for united efforts to move forward.
“This is the day to thank all Rwandans and all our partners for we know that without their partnership we wouldn’t be this far in making our country safer for all.” “This is also a day for us to look back and see where we have come from, where we are and devise effective measures to take us where we want to be in terms of security as a firm foundation towards sustainable development,” IGP Gasana said. “Over the last 18 years, RNP achieved a lot in terms of capacity and skills development, acquired modern policing equipment; infrastructure development such as schools, offices and police quarters, building confidence and trust among Rwandans, and took part in international peace support operations, among others,” the Police Chief said.
The Police Day also marked the end of four weeks of community development activities under the auspice of the annual ‘Police Week.’
The anniversary was attended by other sister security institutions that include Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) and all entities under the justice sector, provincial governors and district mayors, NGOs, faith-based organizations and civil society as well as Youth Volunteers in Community Policing, among others.
Leave a Reply