The remarks were made on August 13, 2026, when the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) presented 18 government employees suspected of abusing their authority for personal gain and being accomplices to the offence of giving a person a substance capable of causing death or serious harm to their health.
ACP Rutikanga said that between July 15 and 31, 2026, there were 345 cases related to assault and bodily injury. However, the number has since dropped by half.
“Cases related to assault and bodily injury from August 1, 2026, to last night decreased to 188. This means they dropped by 50% in a period of two weeks, and we believe they could decrease even further because the work is still ongoing,” he said.
He also warned people who are attempting to undermine efforts to remove substances that are harmful to the health of Rwandans.
“That is not juice that someone drinks just to get drunk. It is a weapon that a person drinks, and their reasoning is lost, among other things that we can identify from them. If you give someone a weapon believing it will protect you, you are seriously mistaken. I do not know whether they have thought about it carefully,” ACP Rutikanga said.
He warned people who secretly sell the prohibited alcoholic beverages, as well as other traders who are hiding them from the public, saying they will eventually be caught and face severe punishment.
He further cautioned people who believe they have found a bargain by buying cheap alcohol, particularly in neighbouring countries. He explained that properly processed alcoholic beverages cannot normally be sold at extremely low prices that attract everyone, as such products are likely to be substandard.
ACP Rutikanga also advised people to avoid excessive alcohol consumption, including legally approved drinks such as beer, noting that excessive drinking can still have serious health consequences.
He added that even non-alcoholic drinks such as Fanta can be harmful when consumed excessively because they are also manufactured products.
