Rwanda-Burundi : games to strengthen police cooperation

Rwanda hosts regional competitions of the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization, EAPCCO. At the launch of the games, a Burundian police team crossed swords with that of Rwandan police. The hosts’ football team beat the Burundi National Police (PNB) 3-1 in the first game on Tuesday March 21 at the newly-named Pele Stadium Kigali at 3 p.m. Competitions are running until March 27. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Other games included volleyball, netball, karate, shooting games, boxing, basketball and athletics.

Even if these games bring together men’s and women’s teams from East African countries, between Burundi and Rwanda, they have another dimension.

“These competitions are of paramount importance for us security bodies because they help us share our experiences, get to know each other better and make contacts. For Rwanda and Burundi, this is added value in the framework of cooperation and the normalization of relations, and then we are confident that this will also strengthen our fight against cross-border and transnational crimes on common borders”, said Police Major General Jean Damascène Nkeshimana, head of the Burundian delegation.

And he added, “We also want to exchange important information on criminals and troublemakers. We are no longer going to tolerate this kind of crime with such a network reinforced by these games”.

The Burundian police claim to have been well received in Kigali, especially since this is the very first time that this security force has gone there in large numbers to stay there for more than a week, since the appearance of the diplomatic crisis between the two countries in 2015.

“We had a warm welcome. We also discussed it with our Rwandan colleagues, it is really a particularly impressive, high-level welcome. None of our agents have missed anything where they are staying. We are grateful for that”, said Police Major General Jean Damascene Nkeshimana.

Apart from Rwanda and Burundi, the other countries participating in these games are Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

The big absentee from these games is the DRC. This giant Central African country was absent following the deterioration of relations between it and Rwanda, the host country, according to diplomatic sources in Kigali.

Other absentees are Djibouti, Eritrea, Seychelles, Somalia and Comoros.

Rwanda is the fourth country to host this EAPCCO inter-police tournament after Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.