APA – Kigali (Rwanda) – The presiding judge at the primary court of Nyarugenge in Kigali city on Wednesday decided to postpone the trial of former Director General of Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA), Prof. Jean Bosco Harelimana who is facing charges of misappropriation of public funds.
The judge said if the defendant in the same case doesn’t have a lawyer, the trial would resume Thursday 28 September.
Prof. Harelimana along with two other former staff of Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA) faces several charges including corruption and misappropriation of public funds.
The top Rwandan official who was sacked in January this year was summoned last week by Rwanda’s parliament Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing but he failed to report.
Earlier this month, telephone conversation recordings intercepted by the Police were leaked to various social media groups believing it was Prof. Harelimana trying to negotiate a bribe from unknown individual in order to win a tender from the same Government institution.
His conviction comes amid a sudden crackdown on a group of senior managers at the Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA).
The review of monitoring and evaluation report on implementation status of RCA audit recommendations on 46 cooperatives sampled among audit carried out between 2016 and 2021, revealed embezzlement amounting to Rwf871,522,147 (about $ 871,500 USD) occurred in 34 cooperatives in Rwanda.
RCA audit recommended to recover the amount.
However, only Rwf17,894,180 (about $ 17,800 USD ) equivalent to 2% of total embezzlement was recovered by cooperatives, it said.
CU/as/APA