Rwanda National Police (RNP), on Thursday, November 19, received shear arms crushing machine from the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA), to facilitate the destruction of obsolete firearms. The Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) in charge of Administration and Personnel, Juvenal Marizamunda received the environmental friendly machine from RECSA Executive Secretary, Lt. Gen. Badreldin Elamin Abdelgadir at the function held at the RNP General Headquarters in Kacyiru. Marizamunda thanked RECSA for its continued support to Rwanda to implement Small Arms and Light Weapons management and control interventions. Uncontrolled traffic of small arms and light weapons remains a major source of insecurity, either by fueling armed conflicts or organised crime such as armed robberies, drug trafficking and terrorism in addition to the loss of lives and property, Marizamunda said. He added that in order to deal with these serious hindrances to sustainable peace, security and development, it is important to pull efforts together to curb the vice. The handover of the arms crushing machine, he said, further defines the good working relations between RNP and RECSA. The shear machine will help to promote continuous destruction exercise hence preventing big piles of obsolete firearms; enhance the curbing of diversion and proliferation of small arms and light weapons; improve weapons management and control, and ensure proper accountability of firearms, Marizamunda said. RECSA has been supporting RNP in various disciplines including physical security and stockpile management, training on arms marking machine and training on record keeping. Abdelgadir thanked the Government of Rwanda for consistently supporting RECSA to meet its obligations on the control and prevention of proliferation of small arms and light weapons as provided for in the Nairobi Protocol. Article 8 of the Nairobi Protocol requires RECSA member states to identify and adopt effective programmes for the collection, safe storage, destruction and responsible disposal of small arms and light weapons rendered surplus, redundant or obsolete. With the support of RECSA, RNP officers are also set to be trained on how to operate the arms crushing machine. RECSA Executive Secretary pledged to continue supporting member states to ensure the security and safety of government stocks, which he said that its a precursor for regional peace and stability.
