The Nyarugenge Intermediate Court has postponed to March 19 the ruling for a public tender flouting case involving Caleb Rwamuganza, the former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and other former senior government officials. The case has been before courts of law since mid-last year, with Rwamuganza and his co-accused being charged with different counts related to mismanaging public funds during a process of purchasing a building for government in 2018. The other officials are Godfrey Kabera, the ex-Director-General for National Planning; Eric Serubibi, the ex-Director-General of Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA); Christian Rwankunda, a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure. The building in question is an office block located in Kacyiru opposite Umubano Hotel. According to prosecution, the purchase process of the building was characterized by a number of anomalies, which culminated into losses for the government, when Rwf 9.8 billion was paid for it (the building), yet it had earlier been valued at around Rwf 7.5 billion. In the case, the officials are joined by Aloys Rusizana, a businessman who owned the building in question, and Bonaventure Munyabugingo, a private property valuer who is accused of inflating the value of the property. Court had to give its verdict concerning the case on March 4, but this did not materialize, since court officials had not finished writing down its verdict by the time. “Due to the lengthy nature of the case, court did not finish typing the verdict in time, so we have decided to take more time to complete the exercise. It will now take place on March 19,” reads a statement from the Nyamirambo-based court.
