Statistics from the Rwanda Correctional Service show that in the last 11 months of 2025, it has detained more than 23,000 people suspected of committing various crimes.
These are statistics announced by the Commissioner General of the Rwanda Correctional Service, CG Murenzi Evariste, who said that since the beginning of 2025, it has received 23,000 people sentenced by courts.
On average, at least 2,090 people are detained every month.
If you do the math correctly, we have reached the 342nd day of this year. The RCS does not receive people on weekends. So far, there have been 98.
This means that at least, every day, the RCS has received 94 people who are detained in its various prisons across the country.
CG Murenzi said, “We are currently hosting over 70,000, but since January this year, we have already received 23,000.”
The Rwanda Human Rights Commission recently announced that the number of people in prison is decreasing, which has led to a significant reduction in prison overcrowding.
Figures show that prison overcrowding has decreased by 24.3%, from 134.3% to 110%.
The Commission found that the total number of prisoners in the prisons was 74,253, including 68,944 men, 4,773 women, 516 boys and 20 girls.
CG Murenzi indicated that RCS strives to reform criminals rather than punish them as was the case in the past.
He confirmed that as a way to reduce overcrowding in prisons, the implementation of alternative work sentences for those sentenced by the courts has begun and will contribute to reducing prison overcrowding.
He said, “This is a sentence given by the court. As a criminal is punished through various means, we as RCS respect this sentence. This sentence benefits the person who receives it because he is serving it and is in his family. It states that he is serving it three days a week, five hours a day, meaning that he is doing other things that benefit him at home and in his family.”
The President of the Supreme Court, Mukantaganzwa Domitilla, said that the emphasis on reconciliation and compromise based on guilty pleas will reduce the number of people in prison.
Statistics from the Judiciary indicate that in 2024/2025, the most prevalent crimes in Rwandan society included theft, assault and battery, drug use, threats, fraud, involuntary manslaughter, and others.
Mukantaganzwa stressed that measures have been taken to reduce the backlog of cases in courts and the number of cases on temporary detention that are causing more people to be in prison.
He said that although the number of offenders is high, most are charged with crimes with sentences of less than five years.
He said, “These are crimes that Rwandans sit and think about, and think about our value as human beings. I think that assault and battery are crimes that we can prevent. When you look at the nature of crimes that have imprisoned many people, they are crimes that can be prevented.”
He continued, “We have relaxed our heads, changed our mindset, we do not want to confront them, these are crimes for which you can ask for forgiveness and receive it. These are crimes for which you can ask for forgiveness and be reconciled with your neighbor and repair the damage you have done and accept it, but the problem is about changing the mindset, the mindset so that Rwandans understand that always going to court is not the answer.”
He called on Rwandans to change their mindset towards committing crime, preventing it, and accepting responsibility for repairing damage and accepting punishment.
The Deputy Prosecutor General, Ruberwa Bonavanture, said that in the 2024/2025 fiscal year, 11,846 cases were resolved through plea bargains, while over 3,000 were concluded through mediation.
He also indicated that as of July 2025, 5,107 cases had been concluded through plea bargains and 400 were concluded through mediation, which will contribute to reducing the number of people in prison.
He also indicated that before taking someone to court, the Prosecution first seeks evidence incriminating and defending them, and if it finds evidence incriminating, the case is closed without the need to bring them to court.
Detaining prisoners is a significant drain on the budget because last year, RCS was allocated over 40 billion Rwf and 60% was used to care for prisoners in various sectors, meaning that over 24 billion Rwf was spent on other activities.
