By Yves Iyaremye;
Cyanika: Local authorities from the Northern Province and the Rwanda National Police in the area have praised the role played by local security volunteers known as Imboni z’Umutekano in preventing cross-border crime and implementing COVID-19 prevention measures.
These volunteers have been operating for a year in Gicumbi and Burera districts in the Northern Province in the sectors near the border with Uganda where they fight against cross-border crime.
Some of the responsibilities of these security volunteers, especially those in Cyanika sector, include fighting smuggling, illegal trade and illegal border crossing.
Ramathan Niyibizi, the head Imboni z’Umutekanoin in Cyanika sector says that one of their tasks is to prevent cross-border illegal activities in their area by providing information on smuggling and illegal trade as well as possible threats to national security and sovereignty.
He says they started this initiative at the beginning of this year when they realized that there were a lot of illegal activities in the area with illegal border crossings, smuggling and cross-border drugs.
“It simply came to our attention that we could provide information to help improve security when we realized that people did not want to cross the border through official channels, so we provided information through phone calls to security services including the police and army,” he said.
Niyibizi notes that, “If you find yourself in a situation where you can’t stop someone, we call the security services and they often help us, a great number of people we intercept smuggle things like Kanyanga, caguwa clothes, and so,”
Charles Nkusi, a resident of Gisovu cell in Cyanika sector and a member of Imboni z’Umutekano observes that, before the initiative was started there were a lot of problems as far as security is concerned. Everything was being handled by authorities and security services which was a lot of pressure for them but when we got involved this has changed and we see our intervention is helping.
The Governor of the Northern Province, Dancille Nyirarugero has commended the efforts of Imboni z’Umutekano and urged the youth to continue the good work which is characterized as patriotism and honesty.
“We appreciate Imboni z’Umutekano who are operating close to the boarder, they are doing a great work and its very important in the fight against illegal drugs and traffickers,” the Governor Nyirarugero said.
The head of Community Policing in the region, Chief Inspector Pierre Celestin Ndayisenga, in an interview with Rwanda News Agency emphasized the role of Imboni z’Umutekano as a group that supports in security matters and that they were doing so voluntarily and in good faith.
“The Imboniz’Umutekano have been randomly selected to represent people in Gicumbi and Burera, and in their responsibilities to provide information to the local authorities, including the police,” Chief Inspector Ndayisenga said.
He said that providing information on crimes including drug trafficking improves security and should be a responsibility of every citizen.
“As the police this shows us that everything is possible in partnership with the community, we urge other people in the communities to understand that it is everyone’s responsibility to cooperate with other agencies in providing information, cross-border crimes are affecting the health of the people and the country at large.” He added.
In their everyday work, Imboni z’Umutekano operate as volunteers and are appreciated by many but face challenges like the current Covid-19 health crisis, bad weather like on rainy days and at night because they lack equipment and gear to operate in such circumstances which gives illegal smugglers a chance to use the loophole when they are off guard.
Preventing the spread of Covid-19
According to Niyibizi, they ensure that everyone is respecting Covid-19 preventive measures like wearing of face masks, reminding people to regularly wash hands and people to respect physical distancing in crowded places.
While respecting the measures is done in normal circumstances, when anyone is caught in some illegally activities before they are handed to the police they are first tested for COVID-19 and testing is done to ensure that there are no migrants from Uganda to Rwanda that may spread the disease.
Wilson Amani Mwambutsa, the executive secretary of Cyanika sector, applauds the work of Imboni z’Umutekano, saying that they have stopped many illegal entries in the country that have been brought to authorities and they are first tested of COVID-19 because no one can guest their intentions.
Mwambutsa encouraged other citizens to support these volunteers as well as take part in providing information to any illegal activity.
Other challenges of lacking gear greatly affects in fulfilling their responsibilities. Nkusi says that some of the gear they require include proper clothes for the tasks like night and rainy clothes, boots, touches and telephones for better communication among others.
Nonetheless, Governor Nyirarugero assured that they will address some of the issues that have hampered this important work for instance telephones handsets have been recently given out and plans are to tackle every challenge soon.