Anti-corruption Council calls for efforts against graft

Members of the National Anti-corruption Advisory Council have urged Rwandans, such as the media, the private sector, and the civil society to set up efforts against corruption. The call was made shortly after their extra-ordinary meeting yesterday, which focused on strategies of institutions in the prevention and fight against corruption as well as collaboration among institutions in the fight against graft. The National Anti-corruption Advisory Council is made up of the Minister for Local Government, two Deputies of the Ombudsman, the Minister for Justice, the Vice President of the Supreme Court, the Inspector General of Rwanda National Police, the Prosecutor General, the Auditor General of State Finances, the Executive Secretary of Rwanda Public Procurement Authority, representatives of the Civil society platform, and the Chief Executive of the Private Sector Federation. “Corruption is a big threat to both individual and national development. It destroys people’s trust in the government, allows the country’s resources to be misused and it disables the rule of law,” the officials said in a press release issued after the meeting. They renewed their commitment in the fight against corruption, stressing to that whoever will be found taking bribes will be prosecuted, using the country’s anti-corruption laws. In a press briefing shortly after the meeting yesterday, the Minister for Local Government, Francis Kaboneka, warned everyone against corruption. “We would like to call upon all Rwandans to stand up against corruption. Whoever is involved in corruption should stop because it destroys the country,” he said. Rwanda is among the least corrupt countries in the world, with Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), putting the country among Africa’s five least corrupt nations. Government maintains an anti-corruption stance, with 97.3 per cent of Rwandans expressing confidence in the government’s efforts to fight corruption, according to the 2014 Rwanda Bribery Index by Transparency International Rwanda chapter. According to the Prosecutor General, Richard Muhumuza, the country’s prosecution office has filed 155 cases of corruption in courts of the 225 cases reported in the fiscal year 2013-2014. “We have urged people to report more about corruption cases and the response is positive,” Muhumuza said during the press conference yesterday. To the general public, members of the National Anti-corruption Advisory Council asked for adoption of anti-corruption values as well as cooperation in reporting corruption cases. The officials also asked the media to help sensitise the public about the ills of corruption and reporting about its cases. Entrepreneurs in the private sector were also urged to always report challenges they are faced with during bidding for public tenders. As for members of the civil society, the officials urged them to sensitise the general public about the problems of being corrupt and report bribery to anti-corruption institutions such as the National Police of Rwanda, the National Public Prosecution Authority, as well as the Office of the Ombudsman.

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Anti-corruption Council calls for efforts against graft