The Office of the Ombudsman has won a case in which it had sued a man for failing to justify the source of his wealth. The High Court sitting in Nyanza found Apollinaire Byiringiro former administrator of Kibuye Hospital guilty and was sentenced to three years in jail and fined over Rwf197 million. Two off his houses will also be put on the auction block and the money deposited on a government account. Byiringiro came under suspicion following discoveries of gross mismanagement of Kibuye Hospital as well as rapid accumulation of property. The Ombudsman ordered an inquiry which led to the lawsuit. “When Byiringiro was the head of the hospital, there was a gross mismanagement of public funds, which led the Office of the Ombudsman to sue him so he could explain the origin of his property compared to his income,” reads a statement signed by Jean Pierre Nkurunziza, Spokesperson and Advisor to the Ombudsman. Certain categories of government officials are by law obliged to declare their wealth every year which sometimes leads to proof of source of wealth. Failure to justify their wealth can lead to forfeiting it to the state. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
