Frw5.3 billion embezzled funds to be investigated

INVESTIGATORS from the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) and the office of the Prosecutor General start probing public entities and officials implicated in mismanagement of public funds tomorrow. The Auditor General, Evelyn Kamagaju, ;last week presented the 2006 report to the joint Chambers of Parliament indicating that a colossal sum amounting to Frw5.3b had not been accounted for. “We have formed four probe teams and the investigators are starting their work,” Prosecutor General, Martin Ngoga said. “There will be no time to waste this time.” In the past the investigations were slow and required the Prosecutor General’s office to write to implicated officials seeking explanation and at times these would take long to reply. Each probe team is composed of two officials from the CID and the Prosecutor General’s office. The damning report of misuse of taxpayer’s money has also pushed lawmakers to form a probe team to specifically investigate fuel mismanagement. Legislators want implicated organs or individuals prosecuted depending on the nature of the embezzlement.Ngoga revealed that there were two categories of cases and they will be handled differently. Whereas a number of the cases could be criminal in nature, others are likely to be administrative errors. Ngoga further said that their methods of dealing with the cases will have to change. This time, he emphasized, his office will have to carry out on-the-spot investigations to determine whether to proceed with prosecution. The move is one of the tough measures that the office of the Prosecutor General has adopted to deal with all who were pinned down in the AG’s report. The AG’s report further stipulates that tenders worth Frw3.8b were not sanctioned by the National Tender Board, while other tenders worth Frw7.85b had no justification for being awarded by Internal Tender Committees (ITCs). Another case involves PAFOR, a forest conservation project in the ministry of agriculture, where Frw77m was embezzled by the company accountant. Other institutions where money was embezzled include the Students Financing Agency for Rwanda (SFAR) where Frw96m was stolen, and the University Hospital of Kigali (CHUK). At SFAR the accountant who stole the money deposited some Frw20m in the bank account of the Director General who later reported the case to the national police.“We have arrested some people already,” Ngoga said. Last year, officials from several public institutions were summoned to the Prosecutor General’s office in connection with financial irregularities unearthed by the Auditor General’s office. Early this year, MPs had tasked Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama to give a detailed report about all people who had charges of public fund mismanagement as indicated in the AG’s 2005 report. Ngoga said 18 of the 47 cases reported in the 2005 Auditor General’s report are currently in court. Kamagaju says her office cannot ascertain whether money was put to good use because there were no supporting documents or financial statements to back up the expenditures.The AG report exposed a number of shocking cases. It showed that the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Tourism, Investment Promotion and Cooperatives does not maintain fuel stock records, and hence is unable to supervise public fuel management.Ends