Police have arrested three people with counterfeit drivers’ licenses in a crackdown aimed at eliminating persons operating without genuine documents.

The crackdown comes in the wake of intensified action by Police to preserve road safety and reduce road accidents, some of which are blamed on incompetent drivers using counterfeit permits.

Benjamin Ingabire from Rulindo District, Emmanuel Nzarora and Remy Habihirwe from Bugesera District, were arrested in separate incidents. Police are investigating the sources of the counterfeit licenses. In his request for leniency, one of the suspects, Nzarora, claimed ignorance, citing that he had been asked by his driving instructor in Nyamata to pay for a license and skip driving lessons.

"My instructor told me that he had friends in Police and that all he wanted was Rwf150, 000 for me to get a license without having to go through the lessons. I did not know that what he provided me was a fake license,” Nzarora claimed. Police Traffic and Road Safety department spokesperson, Chief Inspector Emmanuel Kabanda, warned potential drivers to adhere to traffic safety by going through all the requirements of acquiring a legitimate driving permit rather than falling prey to unscrupulous individuals.

"The public must be informed that whoever gets involved in forgery of such documents will be pursued and be brought to justice, because it is such acts that undermine road safety and put innocent lives at risk on a daily basis,” Kabanda said.

"Police is the only entity that issues driving permits – and it does so only after a prospective driver has passed provisional or practical tests.”

In a bid to ease the process of acquiring driving permits, Police conducts driving license tests in private driving schools on a monthly basis. It has also introduced online registration and provides timely online feedback. The public tests are conducted quarterly and a license is issued within 14 days after a prospective candidate has provided all required documents. 81 counterfeit driving licenses have been seized over the last six months and arrested those behind them.