APA – Kigali (Rwanda) The High Court judge in Kigali has postponed the hearing in the case of the former CEO of Miss Rwanda beauty pageant Dieudonne Ishimwe, popularly known as Prince Kid, to September 15.
During a hearing held on Friday, the presiding judge said adjournment aimed to grant the defence sufficient time to assess and examine a report from the Rwanda Forensic Laboratory regarding a newly submitted audio evidence and its accompanying explanations.
“The prosecution submitted new evidence in the form of an audio recording on June 23, and both parties will resume the trial to thoroughly analyse it before a verdict is delivered,” the presiding judge said.
Ishimwe, the chief executive of Rwanda Inspiration Back Up and the former organizer of the Miss Rwanda Beauty Pageant, has been embroiled in a legal battle since 2022 when he was arrested and charged with soliciting sexual favours, harassment, and rape.
Ishimwe is the head of Rwanda Inspiration Backup, the company behind the annual Miss Rwanda pageant. He has been the boss of Rwanda Inspiration Back Up since 2009.
He was facing three charges including rape, soliciting or offering sexual favours, and harassment. Initial accusation details indicate that suspect cornered at several occasions the contestants in Miss Rwanda pageants, promising then that he had the ability to help them sail through the competition and win the crown.
Following the incident, Rwanda’s ministry of Youth and Culture decided to suspend the beauty pageant contest pending ongoing investigation into alleged sexual assault by organisers.
Reacting to the incident, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said that even though the issue [of sextortion] was reported in Miss Rwanda, in other institutions including in central government and in the army, sexual abuse is becoming a concern.
Speaking during last year’s ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) – Inkotanyi congress, Kagame observed that this issue has even reached schools where teachers give marks for sex.
“It’s really bad and we should denounce it. But girls, women themselves should understand that men don’t own them,” Kagame said.
CU/as/APA