Police in Nyamasheke District is holding a local leader accused of abetting bribery in an attempt to block a legal proceeding involving a suspected thief.
A Cell executive secretary in Ruharambuga Sector was arrested on May 27 following linked information that the leader was conniving with other people to offer a bribe to release a man, who is currently in custody on charges of theft.
According to Supt. Justine Rukara, the District Police Commander of Nyamasheke, the local leader was allegedly “acting as a broker.”
“We got information that there was a person who was soliciting a bribe of Rwf50, 000, claiming he was in position to influence the release of the suspect,” Supt. Rukara said.
“The local leader and that person, who is still at large, are good friends and the latter had contacted the former to collect the money on his behalf, and he was arrested red-handed receiving the bribe of Rwf50, 000,” he added.
“Investigations are still going on because there are other reports that the Cell leader was also involved in other graft-related crimes but investigations will reveal the reality of the matter.”
Supt. Rukara, however, appealed to the residents to “break silence on such high impact crimes” that could be happening in their watch.
Rwanda National Police (RNP) has tightened grip on graft related crimes, both within the force and in public institutions.
Currently, the force has an Anti-corruption and public fund embezzlement directorate under the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) that investigates and handles graft related cases in public institutions.
Corruption is branded a taboo in Rwanda.
Under article 644 of the penal code, any person who explicitly or implicitly solicits, promises, or receives directly or indirectly a bribe or any other illegal benefit , affirming to exert an influence or acquaintance for another person to make a decision whether the bribe or benefit is for him or herself, or somebody else, whether the exerted influence or acquaintance produces expected results or not, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of one to three years and a fine of twice to ten times the value of the illegal benefit solicited, promised or received.
Leave a Reply