Former Rwanda Premier Habumuremyi arrested

The now late Pierre Damien Habumuremyi (PHOTO/Courtesy).

KIGALI – Former Rwanda Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi has been arrested.

Dr Habumuremyi, who served as Prime Minister from 2011 to 2014, was arrested on Friday. He previously served as Minister of Education from May 2011 to October 2011.

Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) confirmed that Dr Habumuremyi was arrested alongside Prof Egide Karuranga, President of Kibungo University.

It is not immediately clear why the duo was arrested and RIB refused to offer details, saying investigations are still underway.

There had been media reports outside Rwanda that police were investigating the former prime minister and his family for possible links to the Rwandan rebel group FDLR, based in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

He has written a book The Political integration in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide: Utopia or Reality, which was published by the Palotti Press, Kigali, in 2008.

Habumuremyi started his career as an academic, serving as the assistant professor at the National University of Rwanda from 1993 to 1999, and also served as a lecturer at the Kigali Independent University and the Kigali Lay Adventist University during 1997-1999. During this period, he also worked as a project coordinator at German Technical Assistance programme (GTZ Kigali) during 1995-1997 and a Senior Project Manager for the Catholic Relief Services during 1997-2000.

From 2000 to 2003, he was the Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission of Rwanda, after which he served as the Executive Secretary until 2008. Habumuremyi was elected as one of Rwanda’s nine representatives in the East African Legislative Assembly on 11 May 2008. He was succeeded as Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission by Charles Munyaneza in July 2008.