KIGALI - Prosecution has confirmed arresting 92 people in connection with defrauding funds meant for Mutuelle de Sante, a country-wide communal health insurance scheme in which, at least Rwf230m was embezzled.

This was revealed by Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga who said that a country-wide probe was provoked by a report last year of people who were arrested in Rusizi District for embezzling these funds.

"We were alerted by this report from Rusizi…I consulted with the Local Government ministry and we decided that the same practice could be structural and hence in the whole country,” said Ngoga during an exclusive interview at his office yesterday.

According to a report compiled by the team that was made up of prosecutors, the police and local authorities and officials from the Ministry of Health, most of the people who embezzled are cell coordinators.

The team found that in all districts apart from Nyarugenge, funds had been embezzled and the biggest amount was embezzled in Gakenke District in Northern Province where up to Rwf 58m was stolen by different officials.  Other districts that are cited in the report where huge sums of money were embezzled are Ngoma in the Eastern Province and Rusizi in the Western Province where respectively, Rwf 55m and Rwf 48m of the funds were found missing.

"The arrest of all the people involved was case by case, we mandated these teams to arrest everyone who had had a case to answer and the probe started last year in October,” said Ngoga.

Mutuelle, to which at least 85 percent of the Rwandan population subscribe, is a government initiative that facilitates Rwandans have access to medical facilities at very affordable costs.

Other people cited in the report include district officers in charge of the Mutuelle funds and health workers at various grassroot levels in the 29 districts where embezzlement was discovered.

"In the arrest we are sending a message to people out there who are in any way involved in this scam; they must quickly put things in order because the exercise is still ongoing,” warned the Chief Prosecutor.

Meanwhile Ngoga called upon line ministries to cover some loopholes which he said contributed to these scams.

"The relevant ministries must address these structural weaknesses…and all relevant people have been informed,” said Ngoga without elaborating these loopholes.

The two ministries involved are the Ministry of Health and that of Local Government.

When contacted, Health Minister Dr Richard Sezibera said he was not surprised that the people were caught.

He said that local leaders have been cautioned to ensure that all the money paid by citizens is duly deposited on the designated accounts.
Ngoga said that all those arrested would be charged with embezzlement in different jurisdictions according to where they committed the crime.

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