Police urges support for mentally handicapped

KARONGI- Rwanda National Police in Karongi district has urged communities and development partners to collectively address problems facing people with mental disabilities,. Police spokesman, Theos Badege, made the remarks after a police operation in Kibuye town, where five mentally disabled people were found roaming in the streets of Karongi, Thursday. Four of them were transferred to Ndera Psychiatric Hospital while another was admitted at Kibuye Hospital. Badege said that the presence of such people on the streets demonstrated society’s failure in addressing the problem. “It is the duty of the government to take care of such people, but we need to see the community involved in the process,” Badege commented. He added that the public needs to be aware of the need to help such people and cut back on the growing number of people with mental impairment in most urban centres. He said that similar operations would be carried out in other districts. “The purpose is to show that such people need to be cared for, instead of the community abandoning them in the streets,” Badege noted. Karongi Mayor, Bernard Kayumba, also acknowledged that there were no organisations to assist such persons. He, however, lamented that the community and families of such people had shunned them. “Such people are also members of our community and the district has collaborated with police and hospitals to find them treatment,” Kayumba said. Ends