KICUKIRO - The hunter last week became the hunted when a city lawyer tried to bribe a judge at Kagarama Court of Lower Instance in Gikondo in order to subvert the course of justice. The NewTimes has reliably learnt that the lawyer, Olivier Muhizi, presented $2000 to the judge for him to deliver a ruling in favor of his client. Instead, the judge alerted members of the anti-corruption team who immediately arrested Muhizi who is being detained in a Kigali police station. When contacted yesterday, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Spokesperson, Augustine Nkusi, confirmed the incident and said the lawyer will be arraigned before the courts soon. “These learned people are considered to be the custodian of the law. It’s very saddening when they turn into violators of the laws they are supposed to protect,” Nkusi said by phone to The New Times yesterday. The controversial case involves Denis Girimbabazi- the former Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) during the regime of Juvenal Habyarimana. According to Nkusi, Girimbabazi’s family who are believed to have fled the country at the height of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi , claimed that the family head had gone missing and is feared dead. But other reports suggest that Girimbabazi who is accused of participating in the Genocide is still alive. The relatives, through the family lawyer went to court seeking permission to sell Girimbabazi’s property. By press time, it was not clear whether it was Girimbabazi who directed his family to sell the property and send the money to his hiding place. According to Nkusi, Girimbabazi is a Genocide suspect, placed in category one-the planners of 100 day holocaust. Nkusi revealed that the prosecutor general’s office had received numerous complaints in the past implicating lawyers in corruption related cases. “Many people have talked about it but we had no tangible evidence. The punishment that awaits Muhizi is severe,” added Nkusi. On conviction, Nkusi said Muhizi will be jailed between 5-10 years. A source from the association of lawyers in Kimihurura told The New Times yesterday that the bribery report shocked the lawyers. “The members are likely to meet soon and denounce what Muhizi did. It was very embarrassing,” the source who is also a lawyer said on phone yesterday. Ends
