House arrest lifted for Gen. Ibingira, three others

The Reserve Force Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Fred Ibingira, today returned to work after four months of suspension and house arrest on disciplinary grounds, said a statement from the military. Also released from house arrest are Brig. Gen. Richard Rutatina, Director, Military Intelligence (J2); Brig. Gen. Wilson Gumisiriza, Commander, Third Division; and Col. Dan Munyuza, Director, External Security but they are still subject to fresh investigations, according to the statement signed by the Spokesperson of the Rwanda Defence Forces and the Ministry of Defence, Brig. Gen. Joseph Nzabamwita. “Subsequent investigations established significant professional failures, including indiscipline, lack of professionalism and disregard for the RDF Chain of Command. The Officers have acknowledged their misconduct and apologised appropriately,” the statement, which was sent exclusively to The New Times, read in part. Speaking to The New Times, Brig. Gen. Nzabamwita said Lt. Gen. Ibingira had effectively resumed work, while the three others were expected to report to RDF headquarters for “further directives.”“During the course of our investigations, new cases came up against the three, and will be handled accordingly,” he added. Brig. Gen. Rutatina and Col. Munyuza will not resume office as investigations into their cases continue, while Brig. Gen. Gumisiriza’s case has been referred to the Auditorat Militaire (military prosecution) for criminal prosecution in Military Courts on new cases which surfaced during investigations, the statement added. Nzabamwita said the fresh cases against the three senior officers had nothing to do with the previous cases, for which they had been suspended and placed under house arrest. The four men had been under house arrest since January 17 over what the military said were questionable individual ties with civilians who had business interests in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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House arrest lifted for Gen. Ibingira, three others