Members of COACMU(Cooperative des Agriculteurs des cereales de Musaza), a cooperative which collects farmers’ harvests of maize and beans operating in Musaza sector of Kirehe district, have requested district officials for assistance to pursue leaders of the cooperative who have gone missing with over Rwf 60 million of their money.
COACMU members have lamented that banks have confiscated some of their properties including the harvests of maize ,beans and a car donated by President Paul Kagame following the disappearance of cooperative heads with that colossal amount.
Gaspard Habaguhirwa, one of the members, says that they had made some progress but now they have been taken aback by the theft.
“We had really made a commendable progress but we have been informed that we lost Rwf 60 million. The malpractice started in 2012 when we stopped receiving information regarding transactions of the cooperative,” he said.
A majority of the farmers in the cooperative say they have been disturbed as their project of practicing modern farming is getting sabotaged and some families’ hope of supporting their dependants including school fees and paying for medical insurance have been made impossible.
The executive secretary of Musaza sector, Pascal Rwabuhihi, has said the cooperative losses started when the dishonest leaders of the cooperative got a bank loan and failed to pay back the interest until the bank started confiscating the properties, culminating into their escape.
“They took a bank loan of Rwf 200 million which they shared and ignored paying the interest within the agreed timeframe. Those who played a role in the exacerbating the crisis have including the president and treasurer,” he said.
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