As of December 2013, the total assets of the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) stood at Rfr403billion or approximately US$575million. In the past several years, RPF’s Crystal Ventures Ltd (CVL) has quite literally turned RSSB into its own bank to set up CVL companies and projects. We can highlight five methods of looting people’s pensions in Paul Kagame’s Rwanda as follows:
Method 1: Placing directly onto the board of directors of Rwanda Social Security Board an officer from Kagame/RPF’s Crystal Ventures Ltd to give CVL an advantage. What is my evidence? Elias Bayingana (photograph on the left), Chief Operating Officer of CVL sits on RSSB Board of Directors.
Method 2: Placing directly into RSSB senior management, close relatives. What is my evidence? Innocent Gakwaya (photograph on top right), who is Deputy Director General of RSSB in charge of benefits, is the husband to Kagame’s sister.
Method 3: Placing directly into RSSB senior management of former managers of either CVL or from Horizon, the Rwandan military holding company. What is my evidence? The newly-installed Director General of RSSB, Daniel Ufitikirezi (photograph on bottom right), is former senior manager in Horizon Group.
Method 4: Form “special vehicles” for CVL to access RSSB money to establish CVL companies. What is my evidence? Building Materials Investments Ltd (BMI) was formed by CVL, Horizon, a Rwandan Army company, and RSSB to establish East African Granite Industries and to buy the privatised Ruliba.
Method 5: Changing the institutional oversight of RSSB to ensure total control of RSSB by officials closer to Kagame. What is my evidence? Previously, the ministry in charge of labour provided general supervision to RSSB as is done in East Africa. Kagame brought RSSB (then CSR) to Ministry of Finance, then run by James Musoni who is also the real treasurer of CVL.
The current set up whereby CVL’s COO Bayingana sits in RSSB Board of Directors, Kagame in-law is Deputy Director, and a former manager in Horizon is RSSB Director General, CVL/Horizon have taken total control of RSSB.
Rwandans may as well say good bye RSSB and its US$575million assets – RSSB IS NOW A PRIVATE BANK FOR THE RPF!
Dr David Himbara
