By Officials from the Anti – corruption Bureau of Puntland, one of the states of Somalia, have visited the Rwanda National Police (RNP) Headquarters, with an aim of learning from the force’s strategies in preventing and fighting graft.
On Wednesday, the Somali officials said that they “consider Rwanda as a model country in fighting corruption” and intend to emulate the country’s strategies. The officials said that they particularly will emulate those implemented by Rwanda National Police.
At the Rwanda National Police, the officials were received by the Commissioner for Community Policing, Assistant Commissioner of Police Celestin Twahirwa, and they later all had a meeting.
Mr. Twahirwa in the meeting, briefed the officials on the force’s strategies and partnership with other institutions in fighting graft. He explained that corruption is considered a high impact crime in Rwanda.
He added that fighting it, is a concerted effort from both state and non state actors, plus the members of the public, and that through the complimentary role, Rwanda has been able to fight corruption to the lowest level possible.
“We have an inter-state agency coordination mechanism where information about graft is exchanged without compromising each others’ core functions,” Twahirwa said.
“We appreciate what Rwanda is doing and that is why we have to pick lessons from it. What we have learnt from Rwanda Police has exceeded our expectations,” said Abdirahman Ali Gureye the Director General of Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in Puntland, when speaking in the meeting.
The Director General also revealed that Rwanda is well known for its zero tolerance to corruption, facilitated by strong measures.
“We chose Rwanda as a model in fighting corruption because the country has realistic measures,” said the Director.
“We are impressed that the force conducts frequent checks on its officers and with its practical partnership with other institutions and the citizens; this makes Rwanda our model country,”
Rwanda is ranked one the least corrupt countries globally.
“Police has partnerships with various stakeholders of youth organizations, community policing committees, anti-crime clubs and a unique partnership with private and public institutions, to eliminate corruption jointly,” said Twahirwa explaining how the police uses different methods and media to sensitize and involve the public in fighting corruption.
Mr. Gureye in his concluding statement sighted that RNP’s strategies are worth emulating and so they would visit the country more often to learn more.
The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Commissioner for Public Relations and Media, Chief Supt. Lynder Nkuranga, and several Police officers working together with the anti-corruption unit in Rwanda.
Reporter: Shamilah Namuddu