Rwanda National Police hands over DRC policeman who illegally entered Rwanda

The Express News Team Published August 30, 2017

Rwanda National Police has handed over the arrested Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) policeman, who had illegally crossed into Rwanda.

The policeman identified as Sergeant Major Jean Paul Namegabe Ndosa, was arrested on Saturday morning at 10:00am in Kabugoyi Cell, Gisenyi sector minutes after he crossed into Rwandan through a porous border.

“Upon arrest, Ndosa claimed he had a mental disability and we immediately checked him in the hospital; medical reports came out indicating that he was in good health and had no mental disability as he claimed,” said Rwanda National Police Spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Theos Badege.

He added that, “We handed him over to DRC police under an arrangement made by International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR)’s Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM).”

The EJVM is a regional military experts’ group tasked to monitor security along DRC’s frontier with its eastern neighbors, including Rwanda.

ACP Badege noted that although illegal border crossing is a crime punishable by the laws, “Keeping him here wasn’t in our interest, we handed him over as a gesture of goodwill and good relations with our neighbours.”

The handover was also attended by Rubavu District Police Commander (DPC) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Callixte Kalisa EJVM’s Major Said Lubuva. Sergeant Major Ndosa was handed over to Col Thierry who is in charge of border security on the DRC side.

This is not the first time Congolese security personnel have illegally entered Rwanda, in November and December 2015, two Congolese soldiers, Corporal Jean Marie Eric Molanga and Sgt Omar Jean Muntu belonging to the national army (FARDC) were arrested for entering the country illegally.

In 2013, three Congolese soldiers; Capt. Augustin Bareke, Private Kasongo Tshiteya and Isac Muzige were arrested in Rwanda for allegedly engaging in suspicious activity before being sent back to their country.

In the same year, in a period of two months, Rwanda had handed over to EJVM six Congolese military personnel who had illegally crossed into Rwandan Territory.