allAfrica.com: Rwanda: Théogène Rudasingwa Has to Sell House After Failure to Repay Loan (Page 1 of 1)

Ecobank is determined to recover some Frw 160m owed to them by Théogène Rudasingwa, a former RPF secretary general and Rwanda's ambassador to the USA from 1996 to 99.

The debt concerns a loan given by BCDI (taken over by Ecobank) for a residence in Kacyiru. A move by the bank to put the house up for public auction has recently been suspended on request of Rudasingwa's caretaker, Doreen Nzaramba. But Focus has learnt that the house has already been sold.

Correspondence between Ecobank and Doreen Nzaramba (a sister to Mr Rudasingwa), of which Focus has seen copies, shows that the bank has been looking for its money since at least early 2006.

Currently, the money Théogène Rudasingwa - who has been living in the US for the last three years - owes to the bank amounts to Frw 163,726,847, all charges included.

The property in question is a mansion situated in northern Kacyiru (plot 1730, vol. R.XXIV and folio 20). It is being rented for ten years to an international organization at $2,000 per month.

Given the failure to properly service the loan (through Ms. Nzaramba, who in Rudasingwa's absence acts on his behalf), Ecobank had recently taken steps to publicly sell the house.

However, in a letter dated February 15, 2008, Ms. Nzaramba requested for the sale to be suspended since, as she said, she was in advanced negotiations with BCR to arrange payment.

In its reply three days later, Ecobank accepted not to go ahead with the sale pending the conclusion of the negotiations. This decision was apparently taken only after discussions between the two banks, since Ecobank clearly did not have a lot of confidence in Ms. Nzaramba's assurances.

And indeed, on February 21 BCR addressed a letter to Ecobank, in which it is stated that they have been approached by SGES SARL to finance the acquisition of the property in question, and requesting the exact amount of the outstanding balance of the loan by Rudasingwa. Ecobank duly (and probably happily) replied.

It might bring to a close a case of bad debt management that has been going on for several years, and in which apparently little goodwill was shown by the debtor. For example, in a letter dated 22/11/2007, Ms. Nzaramba stated that "the rent of USD 2000 was, and still is, the only means of payment".

She goes on to say that she discussed that proposal with a top official of Ecobank, Clement Dodoo, yet "he was badly informed about our case and our meeting was negative".

However, in its reply of 28/11, Ecobank pointed out that "the proposed US$ 2,000 monthly payment (to be derived from rental income) will not even be sufficient to service the monthly interest loan, let alone contribute towards reducing the principal.

It is for this same reason that your proposal was turned down by the bank during your meeting with Mr. Clement Dodoo in October 2007. Mr. Dodoo has not been ill-informed [...] He discussed the matter with you after he had exhaustively reviewed the credit file and realized its current status."

In the same letter, the bank's managing director, Daniel Sackey, also noted that "the facility has not been properly serviced as per the tenets of the loan agreement, as confirmed by the fact that as far back as January 2006, the bank had requested that you pay the full outstanding on the loan."

Bailiff

Furthermore, he complained that Ms. Nzaramba "did not allow the bank's appointed Valuer to carry out a valuation exercise although he produced a letter from the bank. Please be informed that your action contravenes the loan agreement executed."

It was clear that Ecobank was losing its patience and was prepared for a public sale. This might also be evidenced by the fact that this letter, as well as subsequent correspondence, was delivered to Ms. Nzaramba by a bailiff.

Doreen Nzaramba must have sensed this, since her November 22 letter already contained a barely veiled plea for mercy, when she stated: "If also the bank decides to sale off (sic) this house, it will not be an advantage to the bank because I can get a better buyer who can give us the best price."

She did not specify whether she knew somebody who was interested, or how she might find such a buyer.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the bank's reply to this proposal was not over-enthusiastic. "As a bank, we are ONLY (capitals Ecobank) interested in your ability to repay the loan," the November 28 letter declared.

"Hence we will not stop you from bringing in the buyer, but such a buyer will also be subject to the valuation report from our appointed Valuer. [...] Whilst the bank will welcome any effort by your new found buyer to acquire the house, this has to be done very quickly, since the bank has no intention of halting the process for the auction sale of the house."

And in order to drive the point home, the letter concluded with a stern warning, entirely in bold capital letters, saying that it would not relent in its effort to recover the loan. "As a bank, we owe it a duty to our depositors to protect their funds, and we will ensure just that."

The February correspondence mentioned above shows that Ecobank was not joking, yet had sufficient confidence in BCR's assurances that Ms. Nzaramba - thus Théogène Rudasingwa - had at the last minute found a savior.

This was then confirmed last week, when Focus learned the the house had actually been sold. Details of the deal were not available by press time.

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