The prospect of criminal charges against former Rwandan Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi currently under detention at a Police station in Kigali has increased after Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) disclosed Wednesday damning revelations confirming bouncing cheques worth 100 million Rwandan francs that were issued by the former top Government official.
Dr Habumuremyi, who served as prime minister from October 2011 to July 2014, was arrested on Friday when he went to RIB offices in Kigali to respond to allegations connected with issuing the cheques.
The arrest comes after Rwanda’s Ministry of Education ordered In August last year, Christian University of Rwanda for which Dr Habumuremyi is a legal representative to pay several million francs in rent arrears after it was embroiled in a legal tussle with the proprietor of a building used as its campus.
In an official correspondence seen by APA in Kigali, the then Rwandan Minister of Education, Dr Eugene Mutimura, reminded the management of the university that from current assessment conducted at the private university, the institution had accumulated debts in respect of unpaid staff salaries, statutory payments to social security boards and rent for the two university’s campuses in Kigali and Western Rwanda.
“The university also faces serious governance and management challenges and inefficient quality assurance mechanisms to ensure effective teaching and learning,” Mutimura wrote.
In a related development Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) reported Wednesday that Former Prime Minister Dr Pierre-Damien Habumuremyi is in debt amounting to over Rwf1.5bn owed to different creditors including suppliers, employees and commercial banks among others.
The alleged crimes were committed between 2018 and 2019 when he was the rector and owner of Christian University of Rwanda, according to Dominique Bahorera, the Acting RIB Spokesperson.
Habumuremyi who has business units in hospitality is alleged to have issued bounced cheques, and Igihe listed a number of incidents during which he issued such cheques since last year.
On May 30, 2019, he issued a bounced cheque worth Rwf28 million, on November 30 during the same year he issued another cheque worth Rwf38 million.
The following year, 2020, on March 4, he issued a rubber cheque worth Rwf17.5 million, and on June 30 during the same period he issued another cheque of Rwf10.7 million. (1 USD = 950 Rwandan Franc)
According to reports Habumuremyi was on several occasions summoned by different entities, advising him to address the issues he had with creditors and stop the habit of issuing bouncing cheques but this persisted.
CU/abj/APA