By Edmund
Kagire, KIGALI Rwanda
Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) Secretary General Col (Rtd) Jeannot Ruhunga says they are still investigating the Minister of Infrastructure Amb. Claver Gatete (pictured) on his alleged role in ongoing cases of misuse of public resources involving the ministry he heads.
Ruhunga confirmed during a joint
press conference with the Prosecutor General Aimable Havugiyaremye on Tuesday
that investigations on Gatete, which started at the end of June after the
Minister was mentioned in several cases involving mismanagement or
misappropriation of funds, are still on.
He pointed out that there are
several investigations and cases in court in which the Minister has been
mentioned, which prompted the investigative body to conduct investigations to
ascertain his role but did not say if they have found anything incriminating
for the Minister.
“At this point we cannot say we
have enough evidence to suggest that he was directly involved in embezzling or
mismanaging funds for us to arrive at a conclusion but the investigations are
continuing. We will let you know the outcome,” Ruhunga said.
Last month, Gatete was at the
receiving end of President Paul Kagame’s scolding during the Rwanda Patriotic
Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) expanded National Executive Committee (NEC). He accused
him of looking on as public resources were being mismanaged.
Gatete’s troubles emanate from an
ongoing case in which high ranking officials, including Caleb Rwamuganza, the
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, are
accused of flouting tender procedures to cause a loss to the taxpayer by
prompting the government to purchase a building at a price which is Rwf2bn
higher than its actual cost.
PS Rwamuganza is accused
alongside Godfrey Kabera, the Director-General in the Ministry of Finance, Eric
Serubibi, the former Director-General of Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) and
Christian Rwakunda, who was Deputy Director-General in Rwanda Social Security
Board (RSSB) until recently appeared before Gasabo Intermediate Court.
The officials are charged
alongside businessman Aloys Rusizana, the owner of the disputed building
located in Kacyiru, while the other co-accused is Bonaventure Munyabugingo, a
private property valuer, who is accused of conspiring with the defendants to
buy the building at Rwf9.85bn yet it had been proved that it was worth at least
Rwf7.6bn.
President Kagame was incensed by
the fact that Minister Gatete oversaw the transaction as well as other
allegations of mismanagement of funds in the Ministry, requesting RIB to look
into the issue.
Asked why Minister Gatate was
still in office yet he is still under investigation. the RIB SG said that they
have not found anything incriminating yet for the senior minister but
ultimately it is the appointing authority to decide whether he remains in
office or not.
“It is not in our mandate to
answer why Minister Gatete is still in office. Our job is to investigate
allegations and report to prosecution. The appointing authority determines
whether one remains in office or not, when investigations are ongoing,” Ruhunga
said.
During the media briefing, the
Prosecutor General Aimable Havugiyaremye revealed that Former Prime Minister Dr
Pierre Damien Habumuremyi who is facing charges of issuing bouncing cheques and
breach of trust, additional charges which could be added to the file are being
investigated. He said since his arrest, more people have appeared with more
bounced cheques.
The Prosecutor General said that
when he was arrested, the bounced cheques amounted to Rwf100m but since his
arrest and subsequent arraignment, more people came forward with unsecured
cheques, which are now worth more than Rwf200m. He said there were efforts to
engage him to clear his debts but it was all in vain.
The Prosecutor
General said that many people he owed money had not come forward and had decided
to keep quiet, given Dr Habumuremyi’s status, but when he was arrested and
arraigned in court, even those who had feared reported their cases, which is
why he was denied bail, for investigations to go on.
“When we received his file, that
time the unsecured cheques were just over Rwf100m but as we investigated,
another person with a cheque of Rwf70m came forward and then a few more people
showed up and now the cheques amount to more than Rwf200m,”
“Normally as a right given by the
law, someone has a right to bail as the case continues but in his case we were
continuing to receive more complaints of people he owed money. Some of these
people had feared to come forward because of his status as former Prime
Minister and a high ranking government official but when he was arrested and
charged, they came forward,” the Prosecutor General said.
Prosecutor General Havugiyaremye
said that on several occasions, Dr Habumuremyi was asked if he could clear the
debts but he was non-committal, even when he was advised to sell of some of his
properties to clear the debts.
It later emerged that there are more
debts written under his name, including mortgaging most of his properties with
banks. This brought his liabilities to more than Rwf1bn.
He further said that efforts to
give the former PM time to sort out his financial troubles, which he admitted
to, yielded no fruits, leaving Prosecutors with no option but to press charges.
On whether he should have been
treated differently, the PG pointed out that no one is above the law,
regardless of their status. He pointed out that issues of issuing unsupported
cheques is one of the most concerning crimes which are being committed
deliberately, warning that this financial crime is going to be given due
attention given the rate at which is being committed.
On recovery of mismanaged or embezzled public funds, the Prosecution has so far recovered Rwf1.9bn from people who cooperated while 928 files were successfully prosecuted, involving 1,187 people. From the cases, Rwf4.78bn has been recovered and fines worth Rwf2.65bn instituted.
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