Musanze Intermediate Court on Tuesday announced it had postponed the bail ruling in the case involving Augustin Ndabereye, the former vice mayor in charge of economic development in Musanze district. Ndabereye, who has been in custody since August last year faces charges of domestic violence. He had last week appeared before the court to seek bail, having appealed against a decision by Muhoza Primary Court to remand him, pending further investigation before the substantive trial could begin. The intermediate court announced Tuesday that the bail ruling will be issued next week on Tuesday, January 21, saying that the presiding judge was attending training. Court also added that the substantive hearing against the accused will be heard on January 29. Ndabereye, who has since been dropped as vice mayor, is accused of assault and battery on his wife, identified as Olive Kamaliza. Earlier on Tuesday, his wife made a public appeal on social media which she addressed to President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame, outlining a litany of incidents during which her husband reportedly assaulted her. Prosecution has asked court to commit Ndabereye to a communal hearing, saying that he should be tried at Ubworoherane Stadium in Musanze town so that all the residents can attend the hearing. Speaking to The New Times, Kamaliza said she was first battered by her husband in 2012 during the couple’s honeymoon. The couple have three children. During the time of Ndabereye’s arrest in August last year, he had apparently assaulted the wife in the night at the family home in Musanze town, leaving her with multiple bodily injuries. Photos of the wife that were later published showed a patch on her head where her hair had been plucked out apparently during the assault. Asked what prompted her to make the public appeal, Kamaliza said she had been informed there was probability of her husband getting out on bail. Kamaliza went on to say that she took to public domain what she had considered a household secret in order to raise awareness of domestic violence that many women endure secretly, for fear of breaking their marriage. Interestingly, during the bail hearing last week, Ndabereye and his lawyer had stated that he had been forgiven by his spouse, a fact that Kamaliza did not deny during the interview. “People from his (Ndabereye) family coerced me to write to court forgiving him and I did it under duress but I never meant it,” she said. Kamaliza revealed that she was working closely with her lawyer to initiate divorce proceedings against her husband.
