Kicukiro Primary Court has ordered a 30-day remand for 13 people suspected of playing a role in the production and distribution of illicit alcoholic beverages.
Among those remanded is former Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA) Director General Prof. Emile Bienvenue and Samuel Ntihanabayo, the owner and manager of Ingufu Gin Factory.
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The decision was delivered on Thursday, September 3.
The court, however, ordered that three of the 16 suspects be prosecuted while out of custody. They are Elizabeth Uwamahoro, Patrick Rwabukumba and Oluwatosin Ajayi.
For those who were remanded, the presiding judge said the court based the decision on the fact that there are sufficient reasonable grounds for suspecting them of the crimes.
The court said it had examined the prosecution's case and found that Ingufu Gin had failed to comply with requirements set by Rwanda FDA under which it was licensed to operate.
For the remanded Rwanda FDA employees, the court said there were enough grounds to suspect them of failing to fulfil their legal obligations by not taking action over irregularities identified during inspections.
The remanded suspects include owners and employees of alcohol manufacturing companies, as well as Rwanda FDA officials whom prosecutors accuse of failing to report irregularities identified during inspections of alcohol factories.
Emile Bienvenue's case
The prosecution alleges that on April 23, 2026, Prof. Bienvenue issued a certificate to a factory that produces an alcoholic beverage known as Akarusho.
According to the prosecution, such a certificate is issued to a factory after it meets key requirements allowing it to produce beverages.
Prosecutors allege that Prof. Bienvenue issued the certificate through a procedure that was contrary to the law because, in his capacity as Rwanda FDA Director General, he did not have the authority to issue it.
The prosecution said that, ordinarily, a committee within Rwanda FDA responsible for assessing the requirements for issuing such certificates must meet and make a decision before a certificate is granted.
However, prosecutors said Prof. Bienvenue did not wait for the committee to meet before issuing the certificate.
The committee eventually met on June 23, 2026—two months after the certificate had been issued—and, according to the prosecution, many of the factory's beverages had already been on the market by then.
Prosecutors further alleged that Prof. Bienvenue used his position to help the factory obtain benefits in a manner contrary to the law.
In his defence, Prof. Bienvenue said he signed the certificate based on a decision made by the Rwanda FDA committee.
He told the court that the factory had met all the required conditions before the certificate was issued and argued that his actions therefore did not contravene laws governing quality standards.