The ceremony for the hand over of equipment was attended by the Minister of Interior José Pacheco, Ndolamb Ngokwey, UNDP Resident Representative and United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country and Paul Litjens, the Netherlands Charge d’Affaires in Mozambique.

Speaking on the occasion, Ndolamb Ngokwey said the equipment was acquired within the framework of efforts of the government to respond to the challenges of development in Mozambique, particularly the issue of prevention and fight against crime and maintenance of security and public order.

He added that during the third phase of support to PRM, it was noted the need to equip the corporation with communication equipment, namely, computers. The need for equipment was further reinforced in June 2007 when senior police officers requested vehicles and communication radios for police stations, in order to improve the response capacity to the challenges of increased crime rate throughout the country.

In turn, Minister José Pacheco said the UNDP has been contributing for the reinforcement of MINT’s institutional capacity, noting that “such valuable transportation means and computer equipment” represent an added value for the improvement of the capacity in the provision of services to the citizen by the PRM.

The minister said that with the computer equipment, it will be concretized the process of establishing a central data base over the control and licencing of firearms, not only in terms of fulfilling the State targets and obligations, but also as a strategic imperative in the context of prevention and fight against crime.

Regarding the new ways of acting by the bandits, which include the common cases of assaults to banks and murders during daylight, as well as abductions and the respective demands for high sums of money, José Pacheco guaranteed that the Police has drafted an action plan to contain the situation.