Rwanda: former Minister of Youth and Culture in prison for corruption

A high court in Rwanda has sentenced former youth and culture minister, Edouard Bamporiki to five years in prison over corruption charges, extending a previous sentence by a year.

The original sentence, which came last year, against Edouard Bamporiki was a rare case of a top official convicted over corruption in the country.

He was suspended from cabinet last May and put under house arrest while being investigated for corruption and misuse of power. He remained under house arrest until this ruling.

Bamporiki confessed to the charges on Twitter and asked President Paul Kagame for forgiveness, but in September a court sentenced him to four years – which he appealed.

On Monday, a high court judge in the capital, Kigali, said “justice needs to be served to set an example”.