The Nyarugenge Primary Court on Wednesday, September 27, is scheduled to commence the pre-detention hearing in the case of Jean-Bosco Harelimana, the former boss of the Rwanda Cooperatives Agency (RCA).

Harelimana is suspected of crimes including flouting public tender procedures and abuse of public resources.

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According to Thierry Murangira, the spokesperson for Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), the arrest of Harelimana was a result of an investigation that had been ongoing for some time.

The investigation, he said, was conducted in connection with alleged offenses he is suspected of committing during his term at the institution.

In January, Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente dropped Harelimana as head of RCA, owning to managerial failure. Details related to his sacking were not made public at that time.

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The RCA is an institution charged with promoting and regulating the cooperatives sector in Rwanda. Earlier this year, figures from RCA indicated that there were about 9,706 cooperatives in Rwanda with a share capital of more than Rwf47.8 billion.

All the cooperatives count over five million members (comprising over 2.77 million men, and over 2.25 million women).

Since its inception, cooperatives have been crucial in improving the welfare of Rwandans, particularly the role Saving and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) have played in boosting financial inclusion in the country.