Prosecution is seeking a 6-year jail term for the former Division Manager in charge of energy at the Ministry of Infrastructure Robert Nyamvumba. Nyamvumba is being prosecuted for attempting to solicit a bribe worth Rwf7.2 billion from a one Javier Elizalde, a Spanish investor who had submitted a tender to set up street lighting in Rwanda. He is alleged to have committed the crimes in January this year. According to prosecution, in 2019, Elizalde had won a tender worth more than 72 billion Rwandan francs to set up street lights in Rwanda. By the beginning of 2020, the tender was only pending signing to go into implementation when Nyamvumba called the Spanish national requesting that they meet in Kigali. Elizalde who was in Spain at that time agreed to travel to Rwanda to meet Nyamvumba. Upon meeting, prosecution said that Nyamvumba told the investor that there is a top official in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) who wanted a 10 percent commission of the total value of the tender “to speed up things.” This information, prosecution said, was given to them by Elizalde who made the complaint to Rwandan authorities in March this year. Quoting Elizalde, prosecution said that Nyamvumba told the Spanish that failure to cede the 10 per cent commission would mean that there would be delays before the project would be given a go-ahead. Prosecution says that at that time, the tender documents had reached the desk of the permanent secretary of the MINECOFIN who was Caleb Rwamuganza by then, and there are many chances that it was him that Nyamvumba was referring to as a top official that would speed up the process. However, prosecution says that Rwamuganza was interrogated by Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) concerning this, and they found out that he was not part of Nyamvumba’s scheme. During the court session, prosecution presented evidence pinning Nyamvumba on the alleged crime. Among these, the prosecutor said that he (Nyamvumba) had during the interrogation by RIB had admitted to investigators that he had asked for the bribe. He however had said it was not for himself – but for a one Jean Damascene Niyomugabo – the owner of Master Steel Rwanda who was to assist Elizalde to speed up the tender process. Master Steel is a local steel manufacturing company. Addressing court, Nyamvumba who attended the session from Mageragere Prison via Skype refuted prosecution’s claim and gave a different account of what happened in his meeting with Elizalde. He told court that Elizalde had come to Kigali to meet with Niyomugabo to discuss a partnership where the latter’s company would supply some materials during the execution of the tender. The tender was worth Rwf72 billion meant to lay out street lighting on 955 kilometres. While in Kigali, Elizalde tried to link up with Niyomugabo for their meeting but could not get him over the phone, so he decided to ask Nyamvumba to assist him find him. Nyamvumba went to the hotel where Elizalde was in a bid to assist him link up with Niyomugabo. Finally, the two businessmen talked on phone, and Nyamvumba admits that he heard what they discussed. According to Nyamvumba, Niyomugabo asked Elizalde to advance him 10 percent of the total worth of the tender to assist him expand his factory’s capacity to produce the materials that were needed for the tender execution. Nyamvumba said that the Spaniard did not seem happy with the conversation he had with Niyomugabo. In further defence, Nyamvumba raised concerns that the case filed against him might have been made up, and not coming from Elizalde. He cited inconsistencies in it, saying that, for example, it claims that the tender was awarded in May 2019, yet it was really awarded in June the same year. He also questioned the fact Elizalde’s document pinning him is dated March 31, yet he (Nyamvumba) had already started being investigated by authorities in February. His lawyers also questioned prosecution, asking them to showcase the powers their client had in awarding this multi-billion tender. According to Nyamvumba, he did not have powers to influence the tender, saying such bids are handled by the Public Investment Committee in the finance ministry. The judge adjourned the case, and gave September 29 as the day for the ruling. Prosecution asked that Nyamvumba be given a 6-year term in jail if convicted. They (prosecution) also asked that he is slapped with a fine of Rwf21.6 billion which is three times the amount of the bribe he wanted to get, as prescribed by law.
