The Ombudsman’s Office has recently been rallying different stakeholders and the general public to take on a proactive role in the fight against corruption. Over the last one week, the agency ran an anti-corruption campaign that came to a climax yesterday with the observance of the International Anti-Corruption Day. During the week-long campaign, officials from the Ombudsman’s Office highlighted the dangers of corruption and the various ways through which the vice continues to manifest itself in the country, urging collective action if the trend is to be reversed. Globally, Rwanda has made tremendous progress in the battle against graft, with the country retaining its position as the least corrupt nation in the region and third least corrupt on the African continent. Now that’s no mean feat. It has taken a great deal of political will, unwavering courage at the highest level, and consistency of both policy and action when it comes to dealing with corruption in all its facets In recent years, there have been deliberate efforts to effect structural reforms that primarily targeted the public sector, with view to minimising chances of corruption taking place. For instance, the e-procurement system that is currently being piloted in nine public entities and is set to be rolled out to all the other public institutions is set to lessen contact between bidders/suppliers and procuring entities, thus minimising possibilities of seeking and offering a bribe. This will greatly help tackle corruption in public procurement. Despite notable progress, there are still tendencies of corruption both in public and private spheres. One area that’s highly susceptible to corruption is service delivery. It has been observed that often times officials deliberately frustrate citizens and businesses that seek such services as construction permits, payments for work done, land and other property ownership transfers, among others. They employ delay tactics to tempt service seekers to offer a bribe to get a quick service. These are tendencies that should not be tolerated at all cost. But this calls for concerted efforts from all concerned, including the general public. Corruption is a cancer that can wreck a nation’s achievements and aspirations and must be fought by everyone.
