Former Rwandan PM gets three years in jail

By Maniraguha Ferdinand

A Kigali based court has on Friday 27^th November handed three years of jail former Prime minister Dr Habumuremyi Pierre Damien after being convicted with issuing bounced cheques.

In courtroom full of Habumuremyi’s family members, the presiding judge decided that Habumuremyi be punished with three year’s behind bars, and a fine of about 800 million Rwandan francs (about $900 000). His co accused Serutashya Charles was declared innocent on the same charge.

Prosecution has been accusing former premier to have  issued bounced cheques totalling to about Rwf170 million( approximately $170 000) to different people on behalf his Christian University of Rwanda.

Dr Habumuremyi who was Prime Minister from 2011 to 2014,  was arrested in July 2020.

Christian University which was founded in 2017, has been in the news recently, with staff decrying to spend months without salaries, which paralyzed teaching at the university.

It led to the total closure by the Ministry of education later due to financial crisis and low quality of education.