The cabinet meeting held on 18th January 2021, put Kigali city under 15-day lockdown as part of ongoing measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Five days after the lockdown was imposed, Police has reported that 73,000 residents of Kigali city have requested movement clearance via online platform.

Speaking during a talk show on RBA, RNP Commissioner for Traffic Police, CP Rumanzi George has explained that 58,000 of these applicants had reasonable requests that they were granted permission to go ahead while requests for 15,000 people were rejected on ground of presenting unclear reasons for their movements.

“We have a team scrutinizing these applications and granting permissions. That is why some applications are rejected for showing no tangible reasons,” said CP Rumanzi.
RNP figures also show that 1221 cars were seized violating COVID-19 preventive measures between 19th -23rd January 2021.

Among others, 2489 people were caught doing unnecessary movements while 141 were caught drinking from bars among other activities that could spread Coronavirus.

CP Rumanzi appealed on residents to adhere to established COVID-19 preventive measures.