National

Findings of a survey conducted by Transparency International Rwanda have indicated that introducing a suggestion box at public offices directly promotes good governance.

The findings were gathered through suggestion boxes at sample sectors in Musanze and Rubavu districts (between January and June 2012) where citizens were encouraged to drop their complaints.

A report compiled after the survey shows that this helps to encourage participation of the civil society by giving feedback on service delivery, thereby proposing possible solutions.

“They (suggestion boxes) allow local authorities to be aware of common problems which include corruption, malpractices and poor service delivery,” the report reads in part.

 “We discovered that monitoring service delivery enhances transparency thus fostering good governance and the fight against corruption at the local level,” Marie Immaculate Ingabire, the Chairperson of Transparency International-Rwanda, said at the launch of the report yesterday.

She said effective monitoring of services can be achieved by allowing the local population to report corruption and malpractice cases without any hindrance.

On his part, Northern Province Governor Aimé Bosenibamwe talked of the need to embrace ethics and strengthen supervision to ensure accountability.

“Promotion of good governance revolves around accountability and encouraging public participation in the development process,” he said.

Contact email: sam.nkurunziza[at]newtimes.co.rw