Districts drowning in debt-AG

The 2008 Auditor General’s report has revealed that districts across the country owe Rwf 1.5bn with Kigali City Council topping the list with a debt of Rwf 970m. According to the report, Kigali City has defaulted on a Rwf 228m loan that was accessed from Ecobank. The report also shows that the city has also failed to fulfil its obligations on a Rwf 741m loan got from African Development Corporation (ADC) for the land expropriation at Akumunigo in Nyarugenge District that was to be paid in six monthly instalments of Rwf 140m with effect from February 2009. The report mentions that fourteen other districts also acquired loans from Rwanda Development bank (BRD) for the purpose of purchasing mobile phones but have had difficulties in servicing the loans, with over Rwf 534m, both in principle and interest still not paid back. The phones were meant to be given to people in villages at a cheaper price as means of promoting ICT. The report which shows an increase in government expenditure by six percent in 2008 with Rwf 48m unaccounted for through falsification of documents. Rwf 25m is reported missing in Nyarugenge District. The reports pins the Director of Finance, Twine Kakulu, on the disappearance of over Rwf 20m on top of being implicated in the another disappearance of Rwf 15m in the 2007 report when he was still the district’s Tax Auditor. Rwf 22m is reported to have been lost by government in the districts of Kirehe, Rusizi and Ngoma. The report goes on to say that most districts incurred costs that were unjustified, an indication that more millions could have been embezzled. Ends

National

Districts drowning in debt-AG