WESTERN PROVINCE RUSIZI — Patrick Mukeba an accountant of Bank Populaire branch in Bugarama sector in Rusizi district has allegedly disappeared with Rwf.20 million belonging to the financial institution. According to an employee of Bank Populaire in Bugarama sector who preferred to remain anonymous, Mukeba disappeared with the cash after purportedly ‘depositing’ it at National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) branch in Kamembe sector also within Rusizi district last week. From what seemed like a script out of a typical Hollywood movie set sources claim that the Intersec Security guards contracted by the bank to escort the cash rode in the security services van with Mukeba from the Bugarama branch to the gate of NBR as was the norm. Sources further say that the security guards then waited for him outside the gates of NBR for him to deposit the cash. Instead sources reveal that Mukeba bluffed the guards by calling them on phone saying that he was bound to spend some more time in the bank and that if at all they had other assignments in town, they were free to handle the assignments in his absence. The driver of the security van and the security guards went ahead and swallowed Mukeba’s bait whereupon they drove out of the BNR premises to other destinations within Kamembe town. The duo came back to the BNR’s premises only to be told upon asking for Mukeba’s whereabouts that he was no where to be seen. According to employees of Bank Populaire in Bugarama sector, Mukeba is a Congolese national who has been working for the bank for the last 2 and a half years. Security officials at the Rusizi 1 border told The New Times that the suspect is said to have fled the country through this border post. He is suspected to hiding in Bukavu town in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However sources indicate that police organs have since mounted a search for his whereabouts. A security source from Kamembe police station indicated that it is very likely that the Intersec security guards might have colluded with the suspect to pull off the job. Ends
