Former Prime Minister Pierre-Damien Habumuremyi will be arraigned in Gasabo Primary Court in Kibagabaga on Thursday, July 16 on charges related to breach of trust and issuing bounced cheques. The development was confirmed on Wednesday by Faustin Nkusi, the spokesperson for National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA). Habumuremyi was arrested earlier this month by Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), and according to available details, he is in debts amounting to over Rwf1.5bn owed to different creditors including suppliers, employees and commercial banks among others. The debts are said to also include statutory obligations like taxes and employee contributions to Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) were accrued from Habumuremyi’s business, Christian University Kigali (CHUR). He is said to have committed the alleged crimes between 2018 and 2019 when he was the rector and owner of the university, which had two campuses; one in Kigali and another in Karongi. Beginning 2018, Habumuremyi’s university faced financial stress, failing to pay suppliers of school equipment and forcing the Chairperson of the Chancellery for Heroes, National Orders and Decorations of Honour (CHENO) to take debts from different creditors. Before the university was closed recently by the education ministry, their Kigali campus was using the premises of Saint-Paul, which is owned by the Catholic Church. But it wasn’t until recently that creditors and suppliers had enough of him and decided to drag him to courts. Others had been given cheques which bounced after finding no money on the accounts belonging to the university. Alleged crimes Habumuremyi who has business units in hospitality is alleged to have issued bounced cheques on a number of occasions which he issued to his creditors. A cheque is considered bounced or rubber, in most cases, when an individual, group account holder or company issues it as a mode of payment against a bank account with insufficient funds on it. On May 30, 2019, he issued a bounced cheque worth Rwf28 million, on November 30 during the same year he issued another one worth Rwf38 million. The following year, 2020, on March 4, he issued a rubber cheque worth Rwf17.5 million, and on June 30 during the same period, he issued another cheque of Rwf10.7 million. According to reports Habumuremyi was on several occasions summoned by different entities, advising him to address the issues he had with creditors and stop the habit of issuing bouncing cheques but this persisted. Habumuremyi is also accused of breach of trust. The same investigation established that he awarded a tender to a local supplier to procure ICT equipment to his school. The supplier was requested to deposit collateral of Rwf10 million. The former premier is believed to owe up to Rwf1.5 billion, which includes some Rwf452 million in rental arrears and a total of Rwf300 million comprising debts he owes to his employees and the tax body. There is also some evidence to show Habumuremyi owes local banks up to Rwf530 million, as well as some Rwf200 million he owes suppliers of different equipment to his university. Before being named Prime Minister, Habumuremyi was the Minister of Education and prior to that, he was a member of the East African Legislative Assembly. He has also previously served as the Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission.
