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From stocks to machines: Auction of Rwigara properties to continue

Thursday June 07 2018
tobacco

Auction of stock owned by Premier Tobacco Company, a Rwigara family business, at Gikondo Industrial Area in Kigali on March 28, 2018. PHOTO | FILE

By RWANDA TODAY

More properties belonging to the embattled family of the deceased businessman Assinapol Rwigara will go under the hammer as Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) seeks to recover at least Rwf6bn ($6.9m) the family reportedly owes the taxman in arrears.

According to Vedaste Habimana, a court bailiff authorised by the law to sell Rwigara’s properties, on Monday there will be more auctions at Premier Tobacco Company Ltd., following the March auction of tobacco stocks belonging to the same company.

“The details are in the announcement which you have seen. We will be auctioning machines belonging to Premier Tobacco Company, everything else will be revealed on Monday,” Mr Habimana said in a phone interview.

“On behalf of Rwanda Revenue Authority, following the issuing of tax requirements to Premier Tobacco Company Ltd, with the intention of recovering tax arrears, the court bailiff would like to inform the general public that on June 11, at 10am, there will be a public auction of machines used in the processing of tobacco,” the announcement reads.

“The auction will take place at the premises of Premier Tobacco Company Ltd. in Gikondo industrial park,” the announcement signed by Mr Habimana reads.

Since Tuesday June 5, potential buyers have been visiting the factory currently under tight security.

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The embattled family represented by Anne Rwigara maintains that the auction is illegal and another form of witch hunt by the state targeting the family.

Rwanda Today understands that the machines to be auctioned include a drying machine, conditioning machine, flavouring machine, blending and packaging machines, all worth about $1m.

Efforts by Rwanda Today to access the factory were futile but a former worker at the factory which is now under lock and key said that some of the machines were bought few months before Rwigara died at the beginning of 2015.

On March 28, Mr Habimana oversaw a highly contested auctioning of 7,195 cartons of processed tobacco belonging to Premier Tobacco Company Ltd which were bought at Rwf512m ($599,040).

Bitter exchange

Anne Rwigara, who was present at the auction, in a bitter exchange of words with the bailiffs, said that the stocks were worth over Rwf1bn but were sold at less than half the price.

Ms Rwigara and her brothers maintain that the auctions which are aimed at recovering tax arrears are politically motivated, partly because their elder sister, Diane Rwigara, attempted to run for presidency last year.

The family has also been up in arms, contesting the manner in which Mr Rwigara died, maintaining that he was murdered. The family is also said to owe several banks money, an issue which could see more of the family properties auction.

Diane, a strong critic of the current government, remains in detention with her mother Adeline Rwigara.

Their hearing is set to resume on July 24 after Prosecutors asked for more time to gather more information on the four people co-accused with the Rwigara’s of inciting insurrections, promoting sectarianism and forgery on Diane’s part.

Ms Rwigara and her mother have been in jail since September last year when police stormed their residence in Kiyovu, Kigali and arrested them.

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