The Kacyiru Court of Lower Instance yesterday grilled Vianney Makombe, a former head of the Eastern Province internal tender committee in the ongoing trial against former administrators of the province.

Makombe, who also doubled as acting secretary of the tender committee, is in court to explain why the committee inflated the money in the Rwf 33m tender won by Intertech Consultancy Company.

Intertech had been awarded a tender to monitor the construction of Eastern Province head-quarters in Rwamagana.

According to prosecution, the money had been inflated to Rwf33million instead of Rwf28m.

It’s yet to be proven by prosecution whether the Rwf 5m overhead was to be shared by the committee members.
Makombe said the balance was an error. "I think our people who were supposed to calculate for us the prices didn’t do it properly,” Makombe told court.

The owner of Intertech consultancy, John Sekaziga is also in court over the same case. Court summoned Makombe, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Marie Claire Mukasine and the Director of Finance, Alexis Karani.

Also implicated in the case is embattled former State Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Theoneste Mutsindashyaka, former Governor of the Eastern Province and the ex-provincial Executive Secretary, Charles Kasana.

The matter of controversy is the multi-million project to construct the provincial headquarters, whose tender was amended on several occasions to almost double the price originally quoted by the contractor. 

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