Public urged to consolidate gains in corruption fight

The fight against corruption still needs a lot of efforts from both the public and government officials. The deputy Ombudsman, Bernadette Kanzayire, during a meeting of anti-corruption stakeholders from Transparency International Rwanda, Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (Alac), Anti-Corruption Justice and Information Centre (AJIC) on Friday. “More people especially in the rural areas are still vulnerable to corrupt officials and hence communities should not be complacent about our recent success,” Kanzayire advised. According to data from Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Rwanda’s corruption perception score dropped slightly to 49 per cent from 53 per cent last year, leaving the country among Africa’s five least corrupt nations. Kanzayire commended the tireless efforts by government to stem graft. Beline Uwineza, the Alac Regional Coordinator of Western & Northern Provinces, said there are still more complaints especially from the rural areas. These complaints are raised via email, text messages, website and are addressed satisfactorily. Uwineza said that of the close to 15,000 complaints received this year, only 166 were deemed irrelevant. He, however, mentioned that, fewer complaints came in via the websites and the email. “Between April and October, 14,730 complaints were registered from Kigali, Kayonza, Huye, Musanze, Rubavu and Rusizi,” Uwineza added. However, more complaints came from men with Alac centres recording 1,454 cases from females and 1,765 from males while AJIC centre’s recorded 1,067 from females and 1,072 cases from males in the Northern Province. Ingabire Marie Immaculée, the chairperson of Transparency International Rwanda, urged the public to be keen on reporting corruption and to avoid waiting for government officials. “This is why there are representatives of anti-corruption organisations within villages to assist people from the grassroots,” Ingabire added. Although many cases were attributed to land issues and judicial cases, Ingabire said the figures can further go down. She called on the media to continue promoting the fight against corruption. “Although our fight is limited by funds, all people should continue to work against corrupt systems,” Ingabire mentioned. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Public urged to consolidate gains in corruption fight