A visiting United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) director has commended the government’s stance on accountability, saying there are strong oversight institutions in place to check the abuse of public funds. 

Magdy Martinez-Soliman, the assistant administrator and director of policy and programme support at UNDP, said this, on Wednesday, during his visit to Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), where he was briefed about good governance in the country.

"Rwanda is among the countries experiencing innovative governance. It has accountable governance; the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Auditor General and the Parliament Public Accounts Committee are strong institutions to take a serious oversight of the use of public funds,” Martinez-Soliman said.

"Every country happens to revisit their governance institutions and find choices, if accountability is not enough there can be more voices given to citizens.”

The UNDP official concludes his three-day working visit to the country, today, having attended the launch of the National Risk Atlas Project, yesterday, by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs.

Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the chief executive of RGB, said: "Citizens are empowered to decide on their leadership and public life in general. Our governance is citizen-centered where people contribute in choosing leaders who they can hold accountable,” Shyaka said.

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