Programs and Events 2009
Ambassador Honors FBI Graduate
On April 1, Ambassador Patricia Moller and the visiting Regional Legal Attaché for the United States, FBI Special Agent David Ford, presented Colonel Jean de Dieu Niyongabo with his FBI National Academy diploma at a ceremony hosted by the Ambassador at her residence.
Colonel Niyongabo, Advisor to the Director General of the Burundi National Police, became Burundi's second graduate from the Academy in Quantico, Virginia, in December 2008. Agent Ford offered a brief description of the FBI's training course for senior law enforcement officials. He also announced that refresher courses to present updates on current law enforcement topics would be conducted in Africa in the near future. Agent Ford emphasized the need for regional cooperation in the law enforcement community in East Africa.
Ambassador Moller thanked the Government of Burundi, noting especially the Ministries of Justice and Internal Security, for their partnership in the fight against regional crime. She was pleased to announce that American Embassy Bujumbura was able to send 14 other Burundian Police officers to training this year at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Botswana.
Ambassador Moller underscored the need for cooperation on a global level to combat sophisticated international criminals and praised the collaboration between the United States and Burundi as a model of the type of teamwork required.