The Kicukiro Primary Court has granted bail to Diogène Mulindahabi, the principal of IPRC-Kigali, who was arrested last month over embezzlement. Also granted bail are 12 other suspects in a case that saw the government close the Kicukiro-based TVET campus for two weeks to allow detectives to gather evidence of wrongdoing. The prosecution had previously told the court that 19 suspects who were all in custody were accused of stealing school property worth Rwf113 million. While delivering the bail ruling on Tuesday, the presiding judge said there were no compelling evidence to prove that 12 of the 19 suspects committed a crime and ruled to release them. The 12 suspects who were granted bail were all suspected of embezzlement while two of them were also accused of forgery. Others who were granted bail include Thomas Vander Muhimpundu the Director of Finance in IPRC, lecturers and technicians of the campus. The judge said that there is no evidence to confirm that the alleged materials found in various places across the country, including the suspects’ homes belonged to IPRC. In addition, the judge pointed out that the pressure pumps prosecution accused Mulindahabi of stealing, the witness said that the pump he had is similar to the one moved from former Eto Kicukiro (current IPRC-Kigali) in 2012 while that one was made in 2015 among others. On the other hand, the judge said that one of the suspects, Alphonse Maniragaba alias Cyabingo, a businessman operating in Kicukiro District, committed a crime of covering up what might be a crime. However, he was also granted bail and will report to the court every Monday for five months. Meanwhile, the six suspects who were denied bail include the campus storekeeper, Jean Claude Nabo, who is accused of embezzlement and use of forged documents while security personnel and casual labourers are being accused of theft Nabo, according to the prosecution, was accused of forging an inventory of assorted materials worth Rwf80m, which reportedly were all taken from the store on a single day on July 30, 2022. The inventory in question justifies stock of construction materials, and electric and plumbing materials, claiming that they were in store yet they weren’t there. The presiding judge said that even if all the suspects denied the accused crime there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they committed embezzlement, use of forged documents, and theft. The group of 19 suspects were arrested at different times since October 23.
