Husband drags wife to court over FARG funds

A Kigali father has openly accused his ex-wife of declaring him dead, in a desperate attempt to have their 15- year-old son benefit from the Fund for Support for Genocide Survivors (FARG). The wife, Jeaninne Mukashengura reportedly told FARG leaders in Bugesera- Eastern Province that the child’s father, with whom she is separated, had died in the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. The child, Jean de Dieu Musabyimana, was then put on a FARG list, as a potential beneficiary. He is a student at St. Aloysius Secondary School in Rwamagana- Eastern Province. But the father, Jean de Dieu Uwineza insists he has been sending fees for the child. He recently walked to the office of Prosecutor General where he lodged his complaint officially. He reportedly told the office of Prosecutor General that Mukashengura had connived with FARG leaders in the district, only for him to get wind of it years later. The prosecution spokesperson, Augustin Nkusi confirmed the development to The New Times in a telephone interview. “We shall investigate the matter. The man came here complaining,” Nkusi said. It is understood that later, the office of the prosecutor general directed police in Kabuga to investigate the matter. A police source in Rusororo, Gasabo district said when contacted last week that the force had started investigating the matter. Meanwhile, The New Times has learnt that Mukashengura has been arrested. “Police arrested her. She cannot talk to you while in police custody,” a senior prosecutor at Gasabo Court who preferred not to be named said. Uwineza told The New Times last Saturday that he would refund all the money spent on the child by FARG soon. “They are still calculating it but it’s over Rwf 200, 000,” Uwineza explained. This development comes amidst rife reports of survivor’s funds being mismanaged. The government set up a probe committee late last year to investigate irregularities in the functions of the 10-year old fund that was established to assist vulnerable survivors of the 1994 Genocide. The probe team made up of officials from the Office of the Prosecutor General, FARG, Ibuka (an umbrella body for genocide survivors associations) and the Ministry of Local Government has already unearthed irregularities which have so far led to numbers of arrests including local government officials. Subsequent to the exposure of the irregularities, the Prime Minister earlier this year dissolved the entire management of the fund that then had at its helm Jean Marie Vianney Karekezi as its Executive Secretary. Ends

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Husband drags wife to court over FARG funds