KIGALI - The Director General of the Rwanda Cooperatives Agency (RCA), Damien Mugabo, has called upon members of cooperatives to be at the forefront of protecting their interests against any form of mismanagement and embezzlement by some dishonest leaders.

Attributing the mismanagement to greed, Mugabo told The New Times that the conduct will only end the day cooperative members start caring about leadership and management of their respective cooperatives.
He emphasized the need for every member to supervise and oversee how leaders are behaving.

"The cooperatives are theirs, so they should be the ones to follow up on matters concerning the organisations and then take preventive measures against any suspect conduct that may lead to embezzlement or mismanagement,” Mugabo said.   

He warned leaders of cooperatives that they would face the law if issues of mismanagement or misappropriation of public funds came to light.
He revealed that the authority is working closely with the Prosecutor’s office to bring to book all greedy heads of cooperatives.

From the beginning of this year, 33 leaders of cooperatives have been prosecuted in relation to mismanagement and embezzlement. According to Mugabo, this has led to a decline in cases of misappropriation and embezzlement.

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