Olds Are Drinking, Vaping and Using Drugs — Police Asks: Where Are the Parents?
Rwandan police have raised concerns over rising substance abuse among teenagers after an operation in Kicukiro revealed minors engaging in drug and alcohol use. Officials are calling for greater parental oversight to combat the national alcohol crisis.
Why it matters
The incident underscores a broader public health crisis in Rwanda involving illicit alcohol and the social challenge of youth substance abuse.
A disturbing police operation in Kicukiro involving teenagers as young as 15 has exposed a more uncomfortable dimension of Rwanda’s battle against dangerous alcohol and drugs: children are increasingly encountering harmful substances, sometimes for hours, while parents have little idea where they are or what they are doing.
Inspector General of Police CG Felix Namuhoranye raised the alarm during Umuganda on Saturday, describing a recent gathering in Kicukiro involving boys and girls aged from 15 to 28. It started at about 3 p.m. and was still underway at around 9:30 a.m., when police intervened.
What officers found, according to Namuhoranye, was disturbing. Some young people were heavily intoxicated and vomiting, some had been exposed to cannabis and vaping, while others became so unwell that they required hospital treatment.
Police eventually gathered about 50 of them and began calling their parents individually.
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