Pastor robbed of over 20M

Police in Remera, on Wednesday morning, arrested Simon Ndikumana and Celestin Hitimana for breaking into the house of Pastor Parfait Karekezi and stealing USD 36,000 (approximately Rwf 21.7 million) and Rwf 450,000. Joseph Nkurikiyinka, another suspect, is still on the run. The incident reportedly took place at 9 AM on Sunday in Kimironko Sector, Gasabo District as Karekezi and his wife were out. Hitimana, who was friends with Karekezi’s watchman, Paul Ntakirutimana, lured the latter from his post at the gate by promising to buy him beer while they chatted. The distraction allowed the other burglars to break in without interruption. The burglars later met in Zindiro to share the loot. According to Ndikumana, the trio hatched the plan after learning that Karekezi, whom he had worked for earlier, was back from the United States. “We were not sure whether he had money but since he was from America, we presumed so,” Ndikumana said. Police have so far recovered USD 15,266 (approximately Rwf 9.2 million) while the rest is believed to be with the third suspect. Investigations are still ongoing to arrest Nkurikiyinka and recover the rest of the money. Though Pastor Karekezi indeed concedes that he was negligent, he says that upon his return, he was engrossed in a lot of work that he had no time to take the money to the bank “I was not advertising that I had a lot of money. It’s just that I had not expected someone to break into my house after I had warned my watchman never to leave the house on Sundays as he is the only one there,” Pastor Karekezi said This is not the first time that burglars have attempted to steal from the pastor. Last year burglars broke into his house and took off with a laptop and other valuables. Supt. Theos Badege, the Police spokesperson, once again urged people to stop keeping large sums of money in their houses and instead resort to banks where safety of their cash is guaranteed. “This is a sign of negligence. If Karekezi had kept his money in the bank, none of this would have happened,” Badege noted. Ends