{"id":2000122224,"date":"2026-08-12T12:24:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T10:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000122224"},"modified":"2026-08-12T12:29:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T10:29:04","slug":"case-files-of-80-suspects-in-substandard-alcohol-case-sent-to-prosecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/case-files-of-80-suspects-in-substandard-alcohol-case-sent-to-prosecution\/","title":{"rendered":"Case files of 80 suspects in substandard alcohol probe sent to prosecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The development was confirmed to IGIHE by Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) spokesperson Dr Murangira B. Thierry, who said the files concerning all 80 suspects were submitted to the prosecution on August 10, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ntihanabayo, also known as Kazungu, was among 16 people arrested in Kigali and presented by RIB on August 8. He was arrested alongside two other employees of Ingufu Gin, including a quality control officer and a production officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oluwatosin Ayayi, who is responsible for operations at Kerry Taste and Nutrition Rwanda, was also among those paraded by RIB in Kigali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other suspects included employees of various companies and industries, including Ebeneza Hub, Sakaza Fruit, Entreprise Urwibutso, African Buffalo, Piphany Company and Lotas Medical Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since August 2, 2026, the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA) has closed 148 factories producing substandard alcoholic beverages and suspended production of their drinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The action followed inspections that found the factories were using inadequately processed ethanol in their beverages, which could pose health risks to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 80 suspects are facing charges including giving another person a substance capable of causing death or serious harm to their health, an offence provided for under Article 115 of Law No. 68\/2018 of August 30, 2018, relating to offences and penalties in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the law, a person who intentionally gives another person, without intending to kill them, a substance capable of causing death or, even if not fatal, capable of seriously damaging their health, commits an offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A conviction carries a prison sentence of between two and three years and a fine ranging from Rwf300,000 to Rwf500,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where the substance causes an incurable disease, permanent incapacity to work or the complete loss of the use of a body organ, the law provides for a prison sentence of between 20 and 25 years and a fine ranging from Rwf500,000 to Rwf1 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspects are also charged with forging, altering or using forged documents, an offence provided for under Article 276 of Law No. 68\/2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A person convicted of this offence faces between five and seven years in prison and a fine ranging from Rwf3 million to Rwf5 million, or one of these penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are further accused of resisting authority, an offence provided for under Article 230 of the same law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A conviction for resisting authority carries a prison sentence of between six months and one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The case files of 80 suspects in substandard alcohol case including the owner of Ingufu Gin, have been sent to prosecution. Some of the suspects were paraded before the media on Saturday, August 8, 2026. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The case file involving 80 people, including the proprietor and manager of Ingufu Gin, Ntihanabayo Samuel, who were recently arrested over allegations of producing substandard alcoholic drinks known as \u201cIbyuma,\u201d has been forwarded to the prosecution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000122225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[151,70],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000122224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-37","tag-editors-choice","tag-main-home-ighlight","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000122225,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/kazungu-2-952a2.jpg","alt":"","caption":"The case files of 80 suspects in substandard alcohol case including the owner of Ingufu Gin, have been sent to prosecution. Some of the suspects were paraded before the media on Saturday, August 8, 2026. ","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":667,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/kazungu-2-952a2.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/kazungu-2-952a2.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/kazungu-2-952a2.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/kazungu-2-952a2.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/kazungu-2-952a2.jpg","width":1000,"height":667}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000122224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000122224"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000122224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000122228,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000122224\/revisions\/2000122228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000122225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000122224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000122224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000122224"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000122224"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000122224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}