The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), on September 11, tasked Irembo Ltd to refund users who paid service fees more than once not later than December 2023.

Irembo Platform was established in 2014 with the objective of bridging the gap of access to information and public services delivery through the digitalization of government-to-citizens and government-to-business services.

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According to the Auditor General’s report for the fiscal year 2022/2023, Irembo did not refund 14,298 duplicated payments for services amounting to more than Rwf167 million.

These payments were for Rwanda National Police, RSSB and Rwanda Revenue Authority services, which were effected in the period of January 2021 to August 2022.

Israel Bimpe, CEO of Irembo Ltd, said that the highlighted duplicated payments were made on the former version of the platform that couldn’t automatically make refunds –the current one is upgraded to handle this –however, he acknowledged the delay in making the refunds given the time that has elapsed.

He explained that there are cases whereby users make mistakes with applications which makes them invalid or the issue might be on the institution to which applications are addressed.

MP Jeanne D’Arc Uwimanimpaye, requested that the platform should consider that not all people are digitally literate and errors cannot be fully mitigated, hence, the need for flexibility in handling these cases and refunding them.

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To address the issue, Bimpe said: "We need to go back to each institution that collected the money and explain to them that we need to make these refunds. The users will be refunded no later than December 2023.”

Currently, Irembo platform is serving 19 government entities with 164 online services including e-payment services, served by more than 7,057 agents.

Low-level of self-service on Irembo

Members of PAC also questioned the lingering low level of self-service on Irembo platform.

In the review of processed applications on Irembo platform from January 2021 to June 2022, the audit found that 25 percent of the applications were processed by self-applicants.

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In the sampled districts, as per the report of September 2022, only 6 percent of the applications processed through Irembo platform are for self-applicants, which means that 94 percent of applications are processed by agents through the platform.

This is explained by the low level of digital literacy among the population, as a consequence, it is costly in terms of time, transport and service fees. Agents charge additional fees ranging between Rwf300 and Rwf7,000 to people when applying for government services.

The national strategy for transformation (NST1) aims at achieving 100 percent digitally literate youth and 60 percent digital literacy for adults. In collaboration with the government, Irembo is required to develop a strategy for public advocacy and marketing campaigns with respect to the platform.

Yves Iradukunda, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of ICT and Innovation, said there is a plan to increase digital ambassadors at cell level to boost digital literacy among people and eventually enable them to serve themselves on the platform when seeking the highly needed government services.

Delayed complaints response

Another issue that was raised by PAC is delays in responding to complaints which also hinders Irembo service delivery.

The AG report indicates that 17,050 complaints (representing 37 percent of total complaints received from January to October 2022) remained unsettled for a period ranging between 1 and 260 days.

This has significant effects on citizens, for instance, In August 2022, National Identification Agency (NIDA) requested Irembo to provide proof of payments of 16,203 applicants who applied for national IDs from July 2015 to October 2022, Since it could not provide them, the applicants did not get their IDs.

This was attributed to the absence of complaints classification and prioritization matrix for resolving received complaints.