Fabrice Shema Ngoga has resigned as president of the Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA), ending his 13-month reign abruptly after a private business case involving bounced cheques and fraud put his leadership under mounting scrutiny.
The resignation came only days after a court approved a plea agreement, making the legal case and the integrity concerns surrounding it central to understanding why Shema stepped down.
Shema announced his resignation with immediate effect in a letter dated September 29, 2026, addressed to the FERWAFA General Assembly. At the centre of his decision was what he described as an integrity issue connected to his personal conduct.
“I hereby submit my resignation from my position as President of the Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA), with immediate effect,” Shema wrote.
“This decision follows the integrity issue that has arisen in connection with my personality.”
Shema said remaining in office was no longer the most responsible course of action, arguing that stepping aside would protect FERWAFA’s credibility, preserve public confidence and allow the relevant processes to proceed independently and without distraction.
“I believe that stepping down is the most responsible course of action to protect the credibility of the Federation, uphold public confidence, and allow the relevant processes to proceed independently and without distraction,” he said.
However, Shema also cautioned against interpreting his resignation beyond what the appropriate legal procedures had established.
Shema’s problems became public in August when he was arrested by the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) over allegations arising from his private business dealings.
Importantly, RIB indicated that the case was linked to his private business activities and was not related to his work as FERWAFA president.
On September 2, the Nyarugenge Primary Court ordered Shema into provisional detention for 30 days as investigations continued into allegations of issuing cheques without sufficient funds and fraudulently obtaining another person’s property.
The allegations centred on two cheques worth a combined $600,000, arising from a business transaction involving Africa Medical Supplier, a company represented by Shema, and UAE-based ABZL International General Trading LLC. Prosecutors told court that the wider business agreements were worth approximately €1.9 million.
Shema appealed the detention order, but the proceedings took a different turn when his lawyers informed the court that an agreement had been reached with prosecutors.
Under the plea agreement, Shema admitted the charges and paid the $600,000 covered by the bounced cheques. The court subsequently approved the agreement, handing him a six-month prison sentence suspended for one year, alongside a reported RWF 3 million fine, and he was released from provisional detention.
The case therefore did not arise from his administration of Rwandan football, but its impact reached directly into his position as the country’s football federation president.
Following his release, attention immediately turned to whether Shema would continue leading FERWAFA.
That question was answered on September 29.
Barely a week after the court-approved plea agreement, Shema chose to leave the federation’s top office, bringing to an end a presidency that had been expected to run for four years.
His decision means the bounced-cheque and fraud case, although rooted in private business dealings, became inseparable from the question of public confidence in his leadership of the football federation.
Shema’s own resignation letter linked his departure to the integrity issue and stressed that stepping down would allow FERWAFA to continue its work without distraction.
Shema’s departure comes just 13 months after he was elected FERWAFA president on August 30, 2025.
The businessman and former AS Kigali president entered the election as the sole candidate and secured 51 of the 53 votes cast at the General Assembly held at Kigali Serena Hotel.
Before taking charge of FERWAFA, Shema had spent about six years as president of AS Kigali, having assumed the club’s presidency in 2019. His time at the club included Peace Cup triumphs in 2019 and 2022.
His arrival at FERWAFA was initially accompanied by high-level football engagements.
Shortly after his election, Shema met FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Rabat, with discussions focusing on Rwanda’s football development programme, infrastructure and governance.
His influence also extended beyond Rwanda.
In February 2026, Shema was elected to the CECAFA Executive Committee during the regional body’s Elective General Assembly in Djibouti.
His resignation from FERWAFA consequently raises another question over whether he will retain his CECAFA Executive Committee position. As of the announcement of his resignation, there had been no indication that he would either retain or relinquish that regional role.
Despite the abrupt end to his presidency, Shema said he remained committed to accountability, transparency and good governance in Rwandan football.
He also pledged to ensure a smooth transition to the federation’s next leadership.
“I will support the handover of responsibilities to ensure continuity in the Federation’s work,” he said.
Shema thanked the FERWAFA General Assembly, Executive Committee, staff, partners, supporters, fans and the Amavubi national team for the support extended to him during his tenure.
“It has been an honour to serve Rwandan football,” he concluded.
His resignation letter was also copied to the presidents of FIFA, CAF and CECAFA, formally notifying football’s international, continental and regional governing bodies of the leadership change.
FERWAFA now faces the task of managing the leadership vacancy and determining the next steps under its statutes.
The federation’s current executive structure includes Claudine Gasarabwe, First Vice President in charge of Administration and Finance, and Richard Mugisha, Second Vice President in charge of technical matters.
Attention will now turn to FERWAFA’s statutes and the procedure for managing the vacancy before a new president is determined.
For Shema, however, the four-year mandate that began with overwhelming support at the 2025 General Assembly has ended after just 13 months.
The immediate trigger for his departure was not a footballing dispute, but the integrity questions that followed a private business case, his arrest, provisional detention, plea agreement, admission of the charges and subsequent court-approved sentence.
Shema has now stepped aside, saying the move is necessary to protect FERWAFA’s credibility, maintain public confidence and allow the relevant processes to proceed independently.