Rwandan authorities have arrested three senior officials from the country’s Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board, alongside four businessmen, as part of an ongoing corruption and abuse of power investigation, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) announced on Sunday.
The arrested officials — Augustin Rwomushana, John Kanyangira, and Richard Niyongabo — are being held in Kigali, although the RIB did not specify when the arrests took place. Their detentions come amid heightened scrutiny over Rwanda’s role in regional mineral trading networks.
Kanyangira oversaw traceability efforts at the board, tasked with regulating mining activities, while Niyongabo headed the mining division, and Rwomushana was responsible for strategy and mineral market operations. The RIB accused the three, along with their alleged business accomplices, of corruption, abuse of office for personal gain, unlawful accumulation of wealth, and money laundering.
The arrests come just weeks after the European Union sanctioned the board’s head, Francis Kamanzi, citing his alleged involvement in the illicit exploitation of minerals from the conflict-ridden eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kamanzi faces a travel ban and asset freeze across EU member states.
A United Nations report recently alleged that Rwanda exercises effective control over the M23 armed group operating in eastern DRC, with an estimated 4,000 Rwandan troops present to support the rebels. The DRC government has long accused Rwanda of backing M23 to facilitate the theft of valuable minerals, including gold and coltan — claims Rwanda denies.
Kigali maintains that its military presence near the DRC border is necessary to counter threats from armed groups linked to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. However, the growing international focus on Rwanda’s mining sector is likely to intensify pressure on the country’s leadership as corruption investigations continue.
