A draft law passed by Parliament on recovery of ill-gotten wealth has been hailed as a boost to corruption fight.

Rwanda has maintained its position as the least corrupt country in the continent, according to Transparency International.

However, although anti-corruption laws are already in place, the proposed law will enable the seizure, management and confiscation of ill-gotten wealth- as there were no clear laws on how the government can go after it.

Confiscating assets

Under the law, authorities will be able to trace, recover, manage, or confiscate assets and benefits accruing from several offences; from corruption, and terrorism, to illicit drug dealing.

Other offences whose benefits to convicts will be confiscated include trafficking of human organs and tissues, unlawful stock market practices and irregular public issue of shares and other financial frauds, as well as kidnap and human trafficking.

However, at the core of the legislators’ hopes while passing the Bill on Wednesday was the anticipation that law enforcement organs would be empowered to recover public funds and assets swindled by corrupt officials.

Some analysts argue that recovering public funds embezzled by convicts is difficult because all they would do is serve their jail terms and then enjoy their riches. 

The law governing the recovery of offence-related assets will do anything to recover the assets, including going after heirs of a convict such as a dead one.

Francine Umurungi, the in-charge of institutional development and advocacy at Transparency International Rwanda, said: "It’s one of those laws that will ease our work as a corruption watchdog. Some of the challenges it will address is where we would encounter issues without laws governing them. The law will empower us to do our work.”

Clément Musangabatware, the deputy Ombudsman in charge of preventing and fighting corruption, said: "For convicts, the law means that there will be no more enjoyment of embezzled funds because it’s now clear how they will be recovered. Cases where graft convicts were compelled to refund stolen monies were rare because there were no clear laws on how to do it.”

Govt to protect seized assets

The draft law stipulates that a unit in charge of managing seized and confiscated assets will be created within the Public Prosecution.

The unit’s organisation and functioning will be determined by a ministerial order.

But some MPs were concerned with how seized assets will be protected pending courts’ decisions on their fate.

"We need to ensure that the unit in charge of managing seized and confiscated assets is empowered enough to protect seized assets because people might end up claiming for more than what was seized in case they win their cases and have to claim their property back,” said MP John Rwabyoma.

MP Innocent Kayitare agreed with the idea to ensure protection of people’s personal goods.

"Under the country’s laws, personal property has to be respected. Government shouldn’t shy away from investing in assessing the value of the property to be seized in order to protect it and give it back to the owners in case they are innocent,” he said.

But draft legislation has provided for protection of seized goods.

Article 18 stipulates that the National Public Prosecution Authority and the Military Prosecution Department "shall establish in each jurisdiction of the Public Prosecution a warehouse for seized or confiscated movable assets and its manager.”

It now awaits assent by the President and eventual publication in the Gazette.

What MPs said about the draft law

Julian Kantengwa. ‘We really need this law. I would like to thank everyone who helped in drafting it.’

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John R. Rwabyoma. ‘We need to ensure that the unit in charge of managing confiscated assets is empowered to protect seized assets because people might end up claiming for more than what was seized in case they win their cases and have to reclaim their property.’

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Thierry Karemera. ‘It will need to be clear how the administration and management of seized assets will be organised. Administration and management is not always the same thing.’

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Innocent Kayitare. ‘Under our laws, personal property has to be respected. The government shouldn’t shy away from investing in assessing the value of the property to be seized in order to protect it and give it back to the owners in case they are proven innocent.’