While Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) on Friday, March 11, confirmed popular actor Jean-Bosco Uwihoreye, commonly known as Ndimbati, was still in their custody after he was arrested over charges of defilement, some new twists to the case seem to have emerged even before the case goes to court. Believed to be the victim, a lady identified as Firdaus Kabahizi had appeared in an interview on a local YouTube channel alleging that Ndimbati had intoxicated her and had sex with her while she was unconscious in 2019. This, according to her, resulted in a pregnancy that led to the birth of a set of twins; both girls. She said she was 17 years old, a year below consensual age by Rwandan law. Two days later, on Thursday, March 10, Ndimbati was arrested on charges of child defilement. Firdaus had explained that although she was born on December 24th, 2002, her ID card says she was born on January 1st that year. Marie-Immaculée Ingabire, a gender and social justice advocate in a separate YouTube interview alleged that Firdaus had lied about her age and that Ndimbati may even be released soon. “I have information that the lady was not a minor. She lied about her age by deducting one year,” Ingabire said. “Most people who register that birth date (January 1) are the ones who don’t know what date they were born. But she clearly knows hers,” she added. Ingabire went on to tackle Firdaus’s narrative, word by word. The latter had alleged that Ndimbati had given her Amarula, a cream liquor from South Africa, allegedly deceiving her that it was milk with cream and chocolate. Ingabire said that it would be hard for someone Firdaus’s age to mistake milk for anything. “Even if you added cream and chocolate. Amarula still has an alcoholic substance, even though it is sweet,” she added. Ingabire further argues that she was surprised that when Firdaus allegedly woke up next to Ndimbati after he had defiled her, she didn’t report to authorities. Nevertheless, RIB confirmed to The New Times that Ndimbati was still in detention and that his case file was to be submitted to prosecution. “Jean-Bosco Uwihoreye, aka Ndimbati, is still in detention, his case file with the evidence on defilement will today be submitted to NPPA (National Public Prosecution Authority),” Thierry B. Murangira told The New Times on a WhatsApp text on Monday. If convicted of the crime, the 51-year-old could face between 20 and 25 years of prison sentence.
