VI.2 AMiA Collapse

Events were heating up in the Spring of 2011. Rwandan Bishop Alexis Bilindabagabo was pushing for financial accountability, Jon Shuler was asking to be made a Rwandan bishop. Alexis pushed harder for some transparency, and a source close to him told me that “when Apb. Kolini left office he took all the office computers, not just the hard drives, with him.” The source claimed that Kolini had built two big houses, one in Kigali and one in Ruhengeri on a very minimal official income when he had no other visible means of support. Further, he had built other houses which he had in the names of his children.

As I would later learn of Rwanda, getting facts about the actual situation on the ground there is next to impossible. It is a land of propaganda and hidden agendas. Was my source from Alexis’ side making things up? I don’t think so, but I have no way of verifying these accusations. Still, I think they are crucial to be out in the open as they shed light on some of the craziness of those times and the motivations of various actors in the play. Kolini’s reputation to most American Anglicans is that of a virtual saint who cannot be accused of wrongdoing. And yet his actions in the collapse of AMiA were very odd, to say the least. He was pitted in open verbal warfare with his successor, Archbishop Rwaje, but we are not at that point in the story yet.

The Rwandan House of Bishops met again on May 20^th. Apparently, some sketchy documentation from the AMiA about finances was presented. Alexis says that at the end of this meeting, Archbishop Rwaje said, “Bishop Alexis, we are grateful that you wrote that letter. I want to say from the bottom of my heart that as Dean of the Province I did not know what was going on with these finances.”

Bishop Alexis followed up this meeting with another letter to Archbishop Rwaje. He asked very specific, pointed, and important questions about the finances under Kolini. The letter from Alexis follows:

Archbishop of the Province of Rwanda
Subject: P.E.A.R., AMiA, and Financial Transparency
31 May 2011
Your Grace,
Greetings in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ:
I am writing to follow up on the letter I delivered to you at the Winter Conference of the AMiA on February 10 of this year, also on the House of Bishops Meeting held on May 20th. In that February letter I stated my concern that the bond of trust and transparency necessary to ‘walking in the light together’ and having revival in our Province was being placed at risk by a lack of proper financial accountability and clarity in financial reporting. Specifically, I mentioned that there was a clear discrepancy between the amount of money the AMiA tithed to the Province of Rwanda according to their own reports and the amount of money actually received in the Province according to our Provincial Financial Reports.
I asked you in that February letter and in subsequent conversations that you would address my concerns and provide a complete report of all monies sent to Rwanda by the AMiA and to specify which bank accounts the AMiA sent these funds to.
At the meeting of the House of Bishops on 20 May 2011 very informal, inadequate, and unsigned reports of various incomes from the AMiA was presented to the Bishops. These reports actually raised more questions than they answered.
I hope you do understand that as the Dean of the Province, and Deputy Legal Representative of the Organization and as a member of the House of Bishops I must know the details of these matters; it is my legal and ecclesiastical responsibility.
The Anglican Church of Rwanda is also accountable to the Government of Rwanda as a Not-for-Profit NGO to maintain proper records and accounting procedures and to follow the Constitution of the Province of Rwanda in all financial matters. It appears that the minimal requirements of the Constitution for oversight of finances by the Provincial Council have not been followed.
We are grateful that at last this financial issue has been opened for discussion and is no longer a taboo. At the House of Bishops meeting on 20 May, in your closing remarks, and I quote: “Bishop Alexis, we are grateful that you wrote that (Feb 2011) letter. I want to say from the bottom of my heart that as Dean of the Province I did not know what was going on with these finances”.
While on one hand I was grateful for your willingness to make a difference, on the other hand I was puzzled by the system that excluded you from such understanding. The Dean, as part of the Leadership, must always be prepared to step into the shoes of the Archbishop and deal with financial and international matters.
Prior to the meeting of the House of Bishops at the end of June it would be good if we could clear up some of the questions raised by the ‘report’ we were given in the May meeting.
First of all, and most importantly, in my original letter I asked that the House of Bishops be informed as to the exact identity of all of the bank accounts that the AMiA sent funds to. It appears that at least three quarters of a million dollars was not transferred into any Provincial account. What are the names on the accounts where these funds were sent and who had authority to make payments out of these accounts? This question, proposed in February, is straightforward, easy to answer, and should be cleared up before the June House of Bishops meeting.
For reference I am inserting those reports we were given here, then the questions: 

Besides the matter of the bank accounts, some questions raised by these reports are:
• Many of us are involved in the management of several Not-For-Profit NGO’s and Diocese’. No financial report would ever be accepted with such large amounts of money (US Dollars/800,000.00) being disbursed with such vague explanations as “designated travel expense” and “designated support”.
• Who authorized that Tithes, which are only payable to the Province of Rwanda, be split up, ‘designated’, and paid into separate and unknown bank accounts?
• Who authorized these ‘designated travel expenses’ and exactly to whom were these payments made, travel to where, for what purpose, and when? Are there records or receipts?
• Most of the same questions apply to the amounts categorized as ‘designated support’.
• All income to the Province of Rwanda (tithes, gifts, and etc.), according to our Constitution, is supposed to be reported to the, the House of Bishops, the Financial Committee, and the Provincial Council. Why was this not done until we discovered the discrepancies? Who was responsible for this reporting and why did they not follow proper procedures?
• We should remind ourselves that all funds for disbursement need to be properly requested and explained and follow the annual budget for the Province. Receipts and records for such expenses are normally kept. All disbursement or distribution of Provincial funds is supposed to be done as part of an annual budget proposed and approved by the Financial Committee, the House of Bishops, and the Provincial Council. Clearly, understood procedures were not followed. It would be helpful if we could understand why.
• Who thought they had the authority to ‘designate’ where Tithes should be spent and then not disclose that information to the House of Bishops or the Provincial Council?
The second report “Report on AMiA Gifts to PEAR- two-year period 2008 – 2010, presented on 20/5/2011 to the House of Bishops Meeting” raises many questions as well.
• If these funds were given to the Province of Rwanda rather than through direct gifts to parishes or diocese through the Sister to Sister program (which program is by the way questionable) why were they not reported as income to the Province and who had authority to make such disbursements of funds that were given to the Province?
• Your Grace, we understand that the Gasabo Diocese is your jurisdiction, but since Provincial funds have been used we must make inquiries. Where is the budget for the construction of the Gasabo Church? Who authorized the expenditure of Provincial funds for a diocesan project? Where is the bookkeeping for the project recorded? Who has access to these funds? How does anyone really know how $100,000.00 given to the Province by the AMiA for this project was actually spent?
• When did the Province begin to pay the medical expenses for Bishops? Is there such a policy for the health care of Bishops of which we are not aware?
• The report says ‘some’ Bishops received this help. Do only ‘some’ Bishops qualify for medical treatment at the expense of the Province or the AMiA. Are there any records or receipts for such treatments? The same $60,000 is said to have been used for ‘medical expenses’ and ‘other expenses’. What are ‘other expenses’? Where are the receipts? Which Bishops received this assistance?
Your Grace, I do realize that the exercise in accounting that will be necessary to answer these questions in time for the June House of Bishops meeting will require some effort. However, for the sake of maintaining our history of transparency and walking in the light together as the Church in Rwanda I am sure it will be well worth the trouble. Bishop Chuck Murphy assured me earlier this year that all this information is readily available from their offices.