Rwanda Forensic Laboratory (RFL) has rolled out a pilot online portal that aims to speed up the analysis and dissemination of results. The development means that all 12 forensic laboratories in the country are now interconnected into one system, making it easier for clients to receive their laboratory result sheets regardless of their location. The portal, first launched on March 1, according to RFL Director General Lt.Col Charles Karangwa, is said to have proven to provide rapid and efficient results, making investigations and prosecution of crimes easier by providing credible evidence. “When a client is introduced at a front desk they generate a barcode in the interior system through which barcode we accompany the whole journey of the sample until we get a laboratory result sheet,” he said. Going forward, Dr. Karangwa said that they plan to expand the portal in order to accommodate major clients as well as existing online platforms. “The second phase of deployment is to create an integrated system with existing platforms to allow our clients to pay easily. We want to connect our LIMS to Irembo, Mobile Money, various financial institutions including banks and also the Integrated Electronic Case Management of Judiciary system (IEMS).” Other organisations, he said, include the National Identification Agency (NIDA), and the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). “Meaning that judges or even prosecutors will no longer need to show up at our offices to collect their results. They can easily get them through the system. This is another opportunity to speed up service delivery among our clients,” Karangwa added. Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases alarming Since its introduction, the RFL, Karangwa said, has completed a total of 25,000 cases, both locally and internationally. However, locally he said that GBV cases, including rape, are still the majority. “The breakdown shows that we still have a lot of GBV cases coming in, and they are still the majority so far,” he added, “Only two clients have so far complained out of 4500 cases.” According to the breakdown obtained by The New Times, other areas with a big number of cases include 800 in establishing the authenticity of documents, 1,587 the presence of drugs, alcohol, or poison in one’s blood, 723 fingerprint analysis and 28 ballistics to identify firearms in case of crimes among other tests. Others include six cases in audio-video, 13 in forensic microbiology and 14,600 in clinical medicine. On the international front, 22 have been completed and some are still in the pipeline. Clients from countries such as the United States of America, Togo and Cameroon have sought the services of RFL. Two new laboratories to be established According to Karangwa, RFL has secured different partnerships to establish two new laboratories that will see the introduction of new services. He said that one of the partnerships inked with Argentine Forensic Institute has reached advanced stages and a memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed soon. “On top of what we are providing, we are adding forensic anthropology to establish the relationship between human remains and their families,” he added. Forensic anthropology is basically the study of human remains that involves applying skeletal analysis and techniques in archaeology to solve criminal cases. “The two other services we are planning to introduce are medical imaging which reduces the number of hours taken to conduct an autopsy, as well as another service that will bring an added value to confirm the cause of death, Karangwa said.
