Gov’t takes on DN Int’l case

People who bought houses from the embattled debt ridden DN International’s Hill View Estates may have reason to smile following a directive from the office of the Prime Minister instructing the Ministry of Justice and the Rwanda Development Board to protect them. Hill View Estate was constructed with a loan from Fina Bank Rwanda. However, the developer failed to pay back as agreed in the contract, compelling the bank to start procedures to auction the houses.This led to the arrest of the Chief Executive Officer of DN International, Nathan Lloyd, who was later released under unclear circumstances. He later fled the country.DN International owes Fina Bank Rwf415 million.The Gasabo-based estate, which has 28 housing units, cost a total of over Rwf 800 million. The issue concerning DNI and Fina Bank came up during the 9th National Dialogue. Speaking to The New Times, the Director of Cabinet in the Prime Minister’s Office, Eugene Barikana, said his office is now handling the case. “The Prime Minister does not directly intervene in such problems, instead he has instructed the Ministry of Justice and RDB to find a solution,” said Barikana. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Pascal Bizimana, said a meeting was held to see how the government can help without directly intervening in private sector issues. “We want to protect people’s assets. That is why we called for a meeting of all the stakeholders and the affected people, and agreed that the victims file a suit in court,” said Bizimana.Currently, of the 19 victims, only three have approached their lawyers with full documents to file a suit. Bizimana pointed out that the government also intends to hold a meeting with Fina Bank and see how the bank can be protected from incurring a loss. However, a source told The New Times that the government ruled out the option of paying off DNI’s debt and is currently looking for options of finding ways of clearing the debt. “DNI owns a piece of land in Kagugu which is worth US$1million. This land also has issues as there are about four parties claiming it, but if the court decides that the land belongs to DNI, then the government will have to sell it and pay back Fina Bank,” said a source. DNI Managing Director resigns Following recent stories in which The New Times stated that it was impossible to reach DNI Managing Director, Joseph Kapukha, he called the newspaper to inform it that he resigned from the company. “I wish to inform you that I am no longer the Managing Director of DN International. I resigned in the absence of the CEO, and the Office of the Ombudsman and RDB are fully informed about it,” said Kapukha. Asked why he resigned, Kapukha said that it was becoming difficult for him to run a company that didn’t have liquid cash. The Ombudsman’s office confirmed that indeed Kapukha resigned. “The case of DNI is no longer with the Office of the Ombudsman, it’s now being handled by the Prime Minister’s office,” said Jean Paul Nkurunziza, the advisor to the Chief Ombudsman. Meanwhile, police has said that it already handed Lloyd’s file to Prosecution. The Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga confirmed that Lloyd still has a case to answer but did not divulge any more details. “I can only confirm that he has a case and actually he jumped bail after which an international warrant of arrest was issued against him. The Prosecution is not in a position to offer more details as of now,” said Ngoga.