Former PL president Mitali wanted over missing funds

Members of the Liberal Party (PL, French acronym) are considering legal action against their former president Protais Mitali after he failed to account for missing party funds. According to Party members, an audit was conducted and exposed financial irregularities. “An audit was carried out from January 2013 – June 2014, and it turns out Mitali withdrew money and never accounted for it,” Théogène Munyangeyo told The New Times yesterday. He was suspected to have embezzled Party funds and a case was initially tabled with the Ombudsman’s office. So far, the audit showed that up to Rwf63 million was unaccounted and when Mitali was confronted by the party members, he said he would pay it back. Mitali is alleged to have also used his authority as the head of the party to dupe the co-signatory François Byabarumwanzi into signing checks. Byabarumwanzi has since apologised to his fellow party members for his blind trust in Mitali. Mitali was Rwanda’s former ambassador to Ethiopia. He was relieved of his duties on March 21, 2015, and instructed to report back not later than April 4. On the night of April 2, he left Ethiopia for a European country. He was recalled after the Party informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the alleged embezzlement. The party was due to conduct further audit beyond 2013 to ascertain the magnitude the irregularities which may have raised his fears. The embattled Mitali was at the helm of the Party since 2007 and stepped down early this year after the party members demanded an explanation for the financial irregularities. According to the Party, he occasionally transferred money to his personal account. The issue first came up last year and he continually gave promises to pay back all the money which were never fulfilled. The Party then asked him to attach some of his properties as guarantee for payment. The party says that on his last visit to Rwanda, he was summoned to Party meetings to sort out the matter but he remained elusive until he flew back to Ethiopia and went silent. Donatille Mukabalisa, the Speaker of Parliament, is the acting head of the party.

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Former PL president Mitali wanted over missing funds