20 RARDA staff arrested over corruption charges

KICUKIRO - Police on Thursday arrested 20 people working with Rwanda Animal Resources Development Authority (RARDA) who are suspected of miss-managing public funds. 10 of those arrested,are being held at Kicukiro police station while the other are at Remera police station waiting to be charged. Police spokesman, Inspector Willy Marcel Higiro, confirmed the arrest and said that they are still investigating the matter. “They were arrested on Thursday and are currently in police custody. The police are still investigating their case before we hand them over for prosecution,” Higiro said. Sources say that some workers at RARDA approved cows meant to be distributed to poor families under the Government poverty reduction program of ‘One Cow One Family’. The cows were later found not to be of the required standards. Some are suspected of scheming with the suppliers who won the tenders to supply the government with cows. The cows were later distributed to some families. The programme coordinator at RARDA, Dr. Everest Namahungu, who is among those arrested, told Sunday Times Friday at Kicukiro police station that they were arrested after being suspected of malpractices. “There is a possibility that some members could have carelessly cleared cows that were not of the required standard because at one time, we discovered and sent back some cows that were too young for insemination,” Namahungu explained. As part of the income distribution programme to reduce poverty levels in Rwandans, RARDA is set to distribute about 339,400 heads of cattle by 2012 Ends