The Ministry of Education on Sunday, July, 5 announced the permanent closure of two more institutions of higher learning over quality issues.

The latest colleges to be shut are Indangaburezi College of Education (ICE)  and the Christian University of Rwanda.

"These universities had provisional licenses but failed to fulfill the requirements for them to be accredited," Valentine Uwamariya, the Minister of Education told Rwanda Television on Sunday, before confirming that the two institutions have been closed.

Additionally, "Some of the owners were arrested by Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB),” the Minister pointed out.

The development was announced on the same day RIB confirmed the arrest of Pierre-Damien Habumuremyi, the proprietor of Christian University of Rwanda (CHUR).

Habumuremyi has previously served as Prime Minister and before that as Minister of Education.

According to RIB, Habumuremyi is being investigated for a breach of trust and issuing bounced cheques worth over Rwf100 million, both of which he allegedly committed between 2018 and 2019 when he was the rector and owner of the University.

The university had two campuses; one in Kigali and another one in Karongi.

Like Habumuremyi, RIB also confirmed that Prof. Egide Karuranga, the Vice-Chancellor of the recently-closed University of Kibungo (UNIK) in Eastern Province, is in custody over misuse of university funds and nepotism after the closure of the university last week.

However, in a bid to relieve students who have been going to these Universities, the Minister emphasized that "They (closed universities) are expected to help students who were studying in their universities to get admissions in other institutions when schools resume by providing their academic performance results.” She said.

Both the Christian University of Rwanda and UNIK had been cited in wrangles with their academic staff who had not received their pay in months.