Nobody will lose their money after the Rwf25 million theft in SACCO Karangazi, the Central Bank Governor, John Rwangombwa assured depositors.

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On Monday morning, news spread that employees of Karangazi Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCO) woke up to find that slightly more than Rwf25 million was stolen without any signs of breaking in.

Dan Gatarayiha, Chairman of the Board of Directors of this SACCO located in Karangazi Sector, Nyagatare District, narrated that the manager came and opened the front door while workers opened the doors of their respective teller offices, only to find that that the money they left in drawers and in the safe had disappeared.

Rwangombwa told the media on Wednesday, that normally, the money in different financial institutions is insured but the stolen amount was bigger than what the SACCO insured.

"It was an internal theft, so they intentionally kept more than what they were supposed to keep,” he explained.

As per regulations, no SACCO is allowed to spend up to Rwf10,000,000.

According to him, the suspects have been arrested and investigations are ongoing and efforts to also recover the money.

"If you have Rwf100,000 in the SACCO, it remains Rwf100,000. So, it’s now upon all other authorities to find a solution to this SACCO and see how it can maintain operations.”

"Of course, the operations resumed immediately to support those who had their money there and nobody will lose their money because of this theft,” he noted.

Rwangombwa said they had similar cases in the past and this one will also be addressed.

SACCO sector cooperatives are set up by the Government of Rwanda to decide the services of all 416 sectors.

In 2020, the government introduced the automation of SACCOs across the country, a process that sought to eliminate manual operations, reduce related leakages and theft as well as ease their operations.