Rwanda: Crime rate declines

The crime rate for the first quarter of 2013 decreased by 4.4 percent; according to the latest security report presented by the Ministry of Internal Security.

The crime report was released on May 6 by the Minister of Internal Security, Sheikh Mussa Fazil Harerimana during a press briefing held in Kacyiru, in Kigali city.

Harerimana attribute the decline to the grassroots’ level administration for their effort in curbing crimes and urged them to continue to see a further decrease of crimes committed in the country.

According to the report the number of crimes decreased from 3682 crimes registered in last year’s first three months to 3519 crimes recorded between January and March this year, equivalent to a decrease of 4.4 percent.

Top of the list of reported crimes was robbery and cattle theft, which was rampant in rural areas especially in areas where there are scattered settlement patterns. This was followed by battering and physical harm which in some cases resulted to deaths generally among people who live or work together. The report indicates that such crimes reduced from 40 to 30 cases per month in comparison to the last quarterly report of 2012.

Unlike in 2012, this time around, drug abuse and trafficking which came first in the previous quarterly report, was in the third place followed by sexual violence as the fourth commonly reported crime which was also mainly among people who are related.

Apparently, these to four crimes account for 88% of the crimes committed in the country. The report also indicates that the high rates of crimes were reported in the districts of Gasabo, Huye and Muhanga- which are also the fastest growing city centers in Rwanda today and have a high growth in population density.

In the meantime, Rwanda tops the list of countries where its citizens are most likely to feel safe, at 92 per cent, followed by Niger, at 84 per cent according to the October 31, 2012 report released by Gallup Inc- a research-based performance management consulting company.

Through community policing and mobilization of the community towards maintaining peace and security, the security organizations in Rwanda have been also a significant aspect in which the Rwandan government has tried to address the issue of crimes.

Community policing committees have been established in each of the community settlement and residents do contribute to their security initiatives financially and through participatory efforts.

One of the successful model CPC initiatives has been sighted in Kinyinya sector, in Gasabo District, Kigali city. Kinyinya sector has over 170 members of CPCs and as a way of supporting security activities in the area, residents of Kinyinya bought a patrol car at a tune of Rwf12 million and contributes over Rwf6 million monthly to facilitate and strengthen the activities of their CPCs and night patrols.