Speaking at the opening ceremony of a three-day Interpol African Regional Conference in Kigali, the senior official said that more work needs to be done in Africa, but also other continents, given the growing threats of organized crimes.
According to him, a case in point is the recent series of terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in Somalia, Kenya, Mali and Nigeria.
“To stop and prevent these threats, there is an urgent need for strong cooperation and comprehensive anti-crimes strategies among all countries,” he said while stressing that no single country can alone win this struggle.
Interpol members in some countries across the world have cooperated with Rwandan police in the past.
Commenting on current collaboration between national police forces across Africa, the Rwandan official called for stronger regional and international cooperation.
Citing example of illicit financial flows out of Africa which poses a significant threat to the developmental agenda of continent, he also noted that human trafficking deprives thousands of people in Africa and elsewhere in the world of their fundamental freedoms.
According to him, Interpol could serves as an opportunity to set up new strategies and enforce existing ones on better supporting [our] respective countries in preventing and fighting crimes.
Interpol is considered the second largest international police organization in the world, with 190 member states.
The organization enables police and other law enforcement agencies from different countries to transcend borders and share crime-related information, according to the same source.
Among other areas of focus during the meeting in Kigali, were cybercrime and innovation, trafficking in human beings – child exploitation, financial crime and anti-corruption and illicit
trafficking of drugs and pharmaceuticals.
Rwanda joined Interpol in 1974 during the 43rd Interpol General Assembly held in Cannes, France.