Dr. Bizimana made these remarks on April 13, 2025, as the official Genocide Commemoration Week drew to a close, a time observed in conjunction with the commemoration of politicians who were killed for standing against the genocide ideology and its execution.
He explained that Ndagijimana, who briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the post-genocide Government of National Unity in 1994, now falsely claims that fewer than 350,000 Tutsi were killed, despite verified records showing over one million victims.
Dr. Bizimana also exposed lesser-known facts about Ndagijimana, stating that he uses the guise of political activism and human rights advocacy to conceal his past misconduct.
'In the Government of National Unity established in July 1994, JMV Ndagijimana was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, just two months later, he fled Rwanda after embezzling around $200,000, which belonged to the government,' Dr. Bizimana stated.
He added that then-Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu, a close friend of Ndagijimana and fellow native of Rusizi District, disclosed this theft in an official statement dated October 19, 1994, and in interviews with international media. Despite Ndagijimana's frequent threats of legal action against those who accused him of theft, Twagiramungu passed away without ever being sued.
Instead, Ngarukiye Léon, then Director of Cabinet in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who had handed the money to Ndagijimana at Kigali International Airport, was the one taken to court. In a French court ruling on November 6, 2023, Ngarukiye won the case, effectively confirming Ndagijimana's guilt.
On October 4, 1994, Ngarukiye who was part of a Rwandan delegation traveling to the UN General Assembly in New York, entrusted the funds to Ndagijimana for delivery to the newly reopened Rwandan Embassy in France.
Instead, Ndagijimana absconded with the money to France. Dr. Bizimana noted that despite losing the case, Ndagijimana never publicly acknowledged it, aware that the court proceedings exposed his theft.
Dr. Bizimana further revealed that this was not Ndagijimana's first instance of financial malfeasance. A 1995 audit at the Rwandan Embassy in Paris uncovered that during his tenure as ambassador (1990â€"1994), he exploited the political turmoil in Rwanda beginning in 1992 to commit further fraud.
In September 1992, Ndagijimana illicitly sold a government-owned house in Paris without informing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He sold it for 1.85 million of the then French currency, a significant devaluation from its purchase price of 3.75 million, suggesting a hasty and self-serving transaction.
Dr. Bizimana disclosed that prior to the sale, Ndagijimana falsely reported the house as damaged, even intentionally setting fire to a portion of it. He subsequently requested and received 1.3 million francs for renovations, despite initially claiming only 700,000 francs were needed.
Theft from his domestic worker
The same audit also revealed Ndagijimana's theft of 75,200 French francs (equivalent to approximately RWF 20 million today) from his Ethiopian domestic worker. Dr. Bizimana explained that Ndagijimana instructed the embassy's accountant, Athanase Nsengiyumva, to pay domestic workers' salaries through his personal bank account, subsequently failing to remit the funds to his employees, particularly his Ethiopian houseworker.
Dr. Bizimana emphasized that Ndagijimana's pattern of misconduct set a negative precedent, inspiring other Rwandan diplomats to engage in similar criminal activities after the genocide. These included damaging government properties, selling embassy assets, and unlawfully occupying government residences long after their diplomatic service ended.
Among those implicated were Ukobizaba Martin, Nderebeza Anasthase, and Shirampaka Anasthase. The most egregious case, according to the minister, involved Col Sebastien Ntahobari, Rwanda's Military Cooperation Attaché in Paris from 1992 to December 1994.
Recalled by the Ministry of Defense, Ntahobari refused to return to Rwanda and remained in France until his death. An audit revealed his full control over embassy funds in 1993, a period marked by substantial transfers for arms procurement, and his embezzlement of over $2 million in collusion with then-Minister Augustin Bizimana, who approved the transfers, and other embassy staff.
IGIHE
