By Spy Uganda
The authorities in Kigali on Friday ordered the arrest of former Rwandan Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, over allegations of issuing a bounced cheque.
Habumuremyi is being investigated for issuing bouncing cheques when he has no money on his account, an act that is tantamount to fraud, a source revealed to this website.
The former Prime Minister was arrested on Friday and caged at one of the Police detention centres in Kigali.
Habumuremyi is the founder of Christian University of Rwanda, which was operating at St Paul in Kiyovu suburb, home to the Catholic faith seat.
The university was also closed on Sunday, alongside another private college, the Indangaburezi College of Education (ICE).
Sources reveal that Habumuremyi’s troubles may have been long standing because during the recent National Executive committee meeting for the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front Party, his troubles were discussed.
President Paul Kagame expressed concerns over the deep rooted corruption among government officials but indicated that he was determined to fix the mess.
The President wondered why the former Prime Minister, moreover at his level as a senior cadre in the party, could operate a university without proper documents.
The President asked him, as a senior RPF carder, why his University would operate illegally but Habumuremyi had not answer.
He tried to explain and make up some stories but the President told him not to bother, because his university had for long failed to respect the law.
Still discussing the same issue, President Kagame asked the Minister of Education, Valentine Uwamariya, to explain what the problem was.
She said the university had been given a deadline. The President said the deadline should end and if the University doesn’t provide all the paperwork required in the shortest period possible, it should be closed permanently.
The Minister was told that the instructions were not selective. Kagame instructed the Minister to apply the same treatment to all universities that don’t have all the requirements.
The President also said that this issue of universities should be a “closed chapter” and that he doesn’t want to hear it again.
Meanwhile, Prof Egide Karuranga, the Vice Chancellor for University of Kibungo (UNIK), which was closed last week for operating illegally, has also been detained for an assortment of crimes pending investigations.
Some of his wrongs include misuse of university properties and gross nepotism and favouritism.
Dominique Bahorera, the spokesperson of Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), confirmed the detention of the two suspects adding that they were arrested on Friday, pending further legal due process.
