‘Big fish’ missing on name and shame corruption list, again
Big Fish Kagame the richest man in Rwanda
IN SUMMARY
- Justice Minister however dismisses claims of lack of big names on the list, stating that the names which were published are based on court decisions, not by ranking or position.
However, there are concerns that the list contains only low-ranking officials while senior people in government and accountants who approve state payments or tenders are nowhere to be seen. The government however says what has been published are cases which have been prosecuted by courts.
The list contains officials who are accused of embezzling or leading to the loss of public funds estimated to be more than Rwf800 million since 2012 and have been found culpable by the courts.
The Ministry of Justice says the next step will be to recover the funds, either forcibly or by the individuals’ voluntary action. He said one of the people involved, Dismas Manegeka from Gicumbi, has already deposited the judgement costs and the amount with the Treasury.
“We are very grateful that he had such a heart to voluntarily honour the court judgement. The rest should follow that example.”
Minister for Justice Johnston Busingye however dismissed claims of lack of big names on the list, stating that the names which were published are based on court decisions, not by ranking or position.
“This particular listing is and will continue to be based on decisions of court. No government official against whom such decision is made, however high ranking, will receive preferential treatment. You can trust us on this. This action is for a long haul, don’t judge us yet, watch us,” Mr Busingye told Rwanda Today.
He said that the government is working to ensure that all public officials are seen to prevent, mitigate and resolve disputes before they cause loss and it is a standard of care which they will insist on and that officials who will ignore it will be asked to make good any resultant loss of public funds.
The list, which explicitly names the official, the case file number, location, institution they worked in and the amount embezzled or they led to loss was made public as a means of preventing other officials from engaging in acts of graft.
Mr Busingye, who signed the document said that the government will asked the named officials to voluntarily return the lost amount to the treasury or they will forcefully recover it and the person will meet litigation and recovery costs.
The list has been published on the Ministry of Justice website and on noticeboards of all district.
Speaking in parliament last week, President Paul Kagame said that officials who embezzle public funds should be held liable and whatever is stolen recovered and put back in public coffers.
Mr Busingye said that a new law which is in the final promulgation process will soon come into force, guaranteeing the government powers to trace stolen funds beyond the principle suspect.
“We are pushing for the asset recovery law to come into force. It has already been passed by both houses but once it becomes a law, it will enable us to trace the lost funds beyond the first person we suspect to their children and relatives,” Mr Busingye says.
“Once we go the court judgement, we will go after them and if we don’t recover the money, we will trace it to the relatives, children, wife or whoever was involved,” he added.
Transparency International Rwanda Chapter recommended the act by the government to publish the list of officials found guilty on corruption and embezzlement but urged the government to prosecute high ranking officials alongside low ranking ones.
Marie Immaculée Ingabire, the chairperson of the corruption watchdog said that while the move is commendable, it is high time the government exposed high ranking officials who may in one way or another be involved or linked to the acts.
“We believe publishing such a list will prevent even those who might be tempted to engage in acts of corruption, bribery and embezzlement from doing. However we still find it difficult for authorities to bring forth high ranking officials accused of similar acts,” she said in an interview.
In separate interview with VOA, Ingabire said that high ranking officials engage in “sophisticated and massive corruption” which goes undetected.
“It is known that high ranking officials get embedded in huge financial deals involving infrastructure development and big tenders where huge amounts of money change hands,” Ingabire said.
“The people who win such deals feel privileged and they give back to those who approved their deals.
“Such deals involve hundreds of millions of money and the corruption involved is also at the highest level and you will find it is the government that makes losses but usually it is hard to get evidence to prosecute such people.”
Shoddy work
Ingabire pointed out that these are the cases the government needs to crack down on if the war on graft is to be won.
She also highlighted that the other type of corruption the government has to fight involved suppliers delivering substandard goods or shoddy work.
“If a contractor builds a road and two years down the road the road in question starts developing potholes, the government ought to bring such a contractor to book and force them to refund the money,” she further pointed out.
Rwanda’s efforts to fight graft have been lauded globally but in recent years, there have been concerns that small fish are sacrificed in the war while big fish involved in corruption walk away freely.
There have been few high profile corruption cases tried in Rwanda in recently years. The government denies protecting them.
Last week, the former Director-General of Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) Angelique Kantengwa was arrested on charges involving corruption and flouting tender procedures. She is yet to be charged in court.
