Police probes 12 prisons heads’ over corruption

KIGALI - The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has widened its investigations into the alleged mismanagement of public funds by government officials, among whom are twelve heads of prisons. Information from CID indicates that the twelve heads of prisons country-wide are being investigated for allegedly misusing public funds. The twelve whose names could not be obtained by press time, are said to have accumulated wealth above what their earnings could justify. “We are investigating them to establish whether what they accumulated is backed by their salaries,” CID boss, Christophe Bizimungu said by phone yesterday. The investigation against the officials was launched after the Ombudsman’s office sent a report to the CID implicating the officials. He however refused to reveal the names of the officials implicated saying it would interfere with the investigations. Leaders are required by law to submit their annual declaration of income, assets and liabilities for verification by June 30. Following the wealth declaration exercise mid last year, the Ombudsman launched investigations to check whether the amounts declared reflect the reality on the ground. In a related development, the CID boss revealed that the police was also investigating a former Rusizi District Mayor over corruption. The campaign intensifies following recent arrest of senior government officials over charges of corruption. In trying to harmonise the campaign against corruption, various government institutions recently established a taskforce that will be coordinated by the Office of the Ombudsman. The taskforce which is made up of Police, the National Public Prosecutions Authority and the Office of the Ombudsman will report directly to the Office of the President. Ends