The Office of the Ombudsman submitted five cases to Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) for further investigation after identifying irregularities linked to forgery and money laundering in the 2024–2025 wealth declaration exercise. ALSO READ: What happens when you cannot explain the source of your wealth? This was revealed by the Chief Ombudsman Madeleine Nirere on October 21, during her presentation of the institution’s annual report for 2024–2025 and the plan for the 2025–2026 fiscal year, before both chambers of the Parliament. The obligation to declare assets is governed by Rwanda’s 2021 asset declaration law, which mandates public officials to submit their declarations electronically to the Office of the Ombudsman each year, no later than May 15. This requirement applies to a wide range of government employees, including senior leaders such as the President, Prime Minister, Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, parliamentary leaders, heads of the judiciary, and other top-level public officials The law also extends to members of the Rwanda Defence Force and the national police, correctional service personnel, judges and prosecutors, investigators, political organization staff, public servants who handle finance and state property, public notaries, and local administrative leaders such as sector and cell executive secretaries. ALSO READ: Rwanda sanctions 25 over terrorism: who are they? According to the Ombudsman report, a total of 19,707 public officials were required to declare their assets. Out of these, 19,697 officials, representing 99.95 per cent complied, marking a slight increase from last year’s 99.94 per cent compliance rate. However, eight individuals failed to clearly explain the sources of their wealth, with three cases remaining under information gathering. The five cases confirmed to be linked to forgery and money laundering have been forwarded to RIB for further investigation. ALSO READ: What you need to know about wealth declaration for Rwandan public servants Only ten individuals (0.05 per cent) failed to declare their assets during this fiscal year, noting a slight improvement from twelve individuals in 2023–2024. “The ten individuals who failed to declare their assets were subjected to work-related penalties, a one-month suspension of salary as granted by the law,” said Nirere. She added that no officials penalised in the previous year repeated the same mistake. “Those who were penalised last year did not repeat the offence, likely because they do not want to risk losing their salaries. The penalties increase with each recurrence, from one month’s suspension without pay in the first year, to two months in the second, and three months in the third,” Nirere explained, “Beyond that, extended investigations are launched to determine the reasons for non-declaration, which may lead to serious consequences if linked to money laundering or corruption.” ALSO READ: Why Rwanda enacted a law on asset declaration In a related update, the Ombudsman reported that all eleven registered political parties submitted their asset declarations, and all were cleared of any links to money laundering. A total of 6,338 assets were declared by the public workers in adherence to the law. The Ombudsman’s Office reiterated its commitment to promoting transparency and accountability among public officials, identifying it as among the key priorities in next year’s plan to strengthen the fight against corruption and illicit financial practices in Rwanda.
