Agriculture employs over 85% of Rwandans.
Three senior officials at Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) were last night fired over misconduct.
Fired officials include Védaste Mujiji who was the Director of Procurement, Marie Claire Gatayire who was the Director of Research, Extension, Publication and Documentation Unit and Théogène Bimenya who was Director of Finance.
RAB oversees the country’s agricultural activities. Agriculture employs over 85% of the country’s population. The body, however, has recently experienced leadership crisis.
The latest officials who were fired during a cabinet meeting last night come barely two months after the dismissal of other four top officials.
On April 12, 2018, Prime Minister Dr. Edouard Ngirente issued a statement dismissing Dr. Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, who was the director-general of RAB and his deputy Dr. Daphrose Gahakwa.
In the same letter, Innocent Nzeyimama who was the head of land husbandry, irrigation and mechanisation department, and Violette Nyirasangwa, who headed the Corporate Services Division were also dismissed.
An inside source in RAB who spoke to KT Press on condition of anonymity cited an ongoing managerial crisis, disagreements, abuse of office and mismanagement of public funds as one of the ‘serious’ issues affecting the institution.
“There has been serious disagreement between top managers here. A case is how top leaders were recently asked to step down. The storm has taken several other senior and junior employees here,” the source told KT Press.
The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) 2014-2015 report discovered 35 serious mistakes committed by RAB top management and summoned its leaders.
Apart from RAB officials, the cabinet meeting also dismissed Nathan Ntwali Baziyaremye who was the Director of Media content, Research and Development Unit at Media High Council (MHC) over grave misconduct.
