Nyarugenge Intermediate Court has upheld a decision to remand Prof. Emile Bienvenu, the former Director General of the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA) and Samuel Ntihanabayo, also known as Kazungu, the founder and Managing Director of Ingufu Gin. The ruling, delivered on September 28, is in reponse to appeals filed by the duo against a September 3 decision Kicukiro Primary Court, which ordered their provisional detention for 30 days after finding reasonable grounds to suspect them of committing the alleged offences. Ntihanabayo and Prof. Bienvenu, along with a number of other co-accused are facing charges related to the production and distribution of substandard alcoholic beverages. ALSO READ: FDA boss Bienvenue among 13 remanded over illicit alcohol More about the case In an earlier hearing, the prosecution alleged that on April 23, Prof. Bienvenue issued a certificate to a factory that produces an alcoholic beverage known as Akarusho. Prosecutors alleged 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. They argued that, ordinarily, a committee within Rwanda FDA, must have met and made a decision before a certificate was 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 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. As for Ntihanabayo, he is facing charges related to the manufacture and sale of substandard alcoholic beverages. In his defence, he said he is an investor who had put in place systems at his factory to ensure that manufacturing standards were maintained. He said that if anything went wrong, the employees responsible should be held accountable.
