Members of Parliament have called for stronger filtering of appeals received by the Ombudsman, saying some litigants misuse their right by pushing for cases to be reopened when the courts have already resolved them well. This comes as the Office of the Ombudsman said it rejected 95 per cent of requests to reopen court cases it reviewed in the 2025/2026 financial year. ALSO READ: Land disputes top Ombudsman complaints as total cases rise 34.8% The office reviewed 595 requests to reopen cases on grounds of injustice, according to its annual report presented to both chambers of Parliament on Thursday, October 22. 564 cases were rejected, 19 were resolved through mediation and 12 were recommended for reopening at the Supreme Court. MP Judith Mukarugwiza questioned the continued submission of requests to reopen court cases despite the high rejection rate, calling for measures to screen applications and prevent unnecessary delays in the justice process. There are cases of people repeating appeals after court decisions have already been made, which indicates that people keep insisting even when more than 90 per cent of such cases are found to have already been resolved properly.” She suggested that the rejection rate could indicate that some people are misusing their right to approach the Ombudsman, which ends up delaying justice. She asked what measures are in place to ensure that the cases received are filtered to avoid this misuse of rights. “Given that many of the remaining cases are land disputes, how does the Ombudsman work with the National Land Authority to address this? Chief Ombudsman Madeleine Nirere said some people continued to take disputes to court unnecessarily, urging greater use of mediation to ease the burden on the justice system. “There are people who constantly take unnecessary matters to court. A lot of work needs to be done, including mobilizing people toward mediation. This would not only help reduce the backlog of court cases, but also foster harmony within society, as ongoing legal disputes often damage personal relationships,” she said. MPs raise concerns over mediators and corruption reporting MP Minani Bizimana raised concerns about reports of corruption involving mediators, despite their role in connecting citizens with government institutions and officials. “Mediators are a valuable organ that helps the government maintain a strong link with citizens and officials, but there have been reports of corruption. Measures should be put in place to protect this organ,” he said. Senator Frank Habineza asked what measures were being taken to address cases that remained unresolved. He also questioned how people reporting corruption could be protected, particularly where suspected wrongdoing remained hidden. The concerns came as the Ombudsman's office reported 3,106 cases during the financial year, including written complaints, cases received during district visits and requests to reopen court cases. Of the total, 2,212 were recorded as resolved, 388 were being followed up by the relevant institutions, while 506 remained under analysis. Land complaints remain the largest category Land-related matters accounted for 38 per cent of 661 written complaints received during the year. The Office also received 88 complaints concerning court judgments that had not been enforced and 83 from people dissatisfied with court decisions. A further 64 complaints concerned compensation for expropriation in the public interest. To encourage the resolution of disputes outside court rooms, the office mediated 35 cases during the year. All resulted in agreements accepted by the parties. Sixteen involved complaints of injustice, while 19 concerned requests to reopen court cases. The office also reported outstanding compensation claims linked to public works. In Nyamasheke District, 3,717 residents were still awaiting compensation totalling Rwf968.6 million for property damaged by Rwanda Energy Group projects. The Office of the Ombudsman said it would continue receiving and resolving injustice complaints, following up on recommendations and promoting public awareness about preventing and reporting corruption.
