Former Gakenke Mayor, Epaphrodite Mugemangango, is allegedly responsible for the financial loss of Frw4 million, according to documents from the district advisory council The minutes of a meeting of the district advisory council held on March 19 implicate Mugemangango for having used the finances to compensate a resident whose house was demolished, yet the case had been settled by his predecessor. The advisory council meeting was evaluating the performance of district leaders. Minutes from this meeting largely formed the basis on which the council voted on March 25 to interdict Mugemangango and two of his former deputies, Joseph Karekezi the Vice Mayor in-charge of economic development, and Winifrid Nyirahirwa who was the in-charge of social affairs. The leaders were sacked by a 28-member council chaired by Zephrin Ntakirutimana. They were also allegedly found to be lazy at work, harbouring genocide ideology and undermining the council, among other things. According to the minutes, a copy of which The New Times has seen, Mugemangango, without consulting the council, ordered the demolition of a house belonging to one resident Silas Ntahontuye, located in Gakenke Sector. He was allegedly searching for genocide victims’ remains. However the documents from the meeting do not reveal the details, but sources say, the owner of the house was compensated because, no remains were found after digging and demolishing the house flour. Mugemangango was also accused of taking independent decisions without consulting the council. According to the minutes, Mugemangango went ahead to allocate Ntahontuye another plot of land without the knowledge of the council. The same minutes say that the mayor was accused of sanctioning payment of wages to unqualified workers, yet the council had halted the payment. The minutes cited the district official in charge of infrastructure, the sector executive secretary of Janja Sector, and the district Director of Finance among the people who benefited from that payment.Ends
