Rwandans have been called upon to increase their readiness to report cases of corruption as a way to help combat the vice in the country.

The call was made yesterday following the launch of Transparency International Rwanda Bribery Index 2015, which showed low readiness to report corruption as a great concern.

The report, released in Kigali yesterday, indicates that, for the last six years, three-quarters of Rwandans who encountered corruption did not report it.

It is not any better this year as only 18 per cent of those encountering corruption reported it.

Out of 100 people seeking service from a private institution, according to the report, only one on average reported having paid a bribe compared to 5 per cent from Rwanda National Police.

In local government, about 5 per cent of people seeking service pay a bribe, while 2.5 per cent report paying a bribe when seeking water or electricity-related services, it added.

At least 2 per cent of service seekers in Judiciary report paying a bribe.

Citizens warned

The chairperson of Transparency International-Rwanda, Marie Immaculee Ingabire, warned of the dangers of corruption, saying  citizens should report any tendencies of graft.

"Corruption is dangerous. It ruins the economy. It is a concern to every member of society. We should all fight it by reporting to Police or to the Ombudsman’s office,” she said.

In 2015, 17.5 per cent of people interviewed indicated that they encountered a bribe in one way or the other, a trend that is almost unchanged since 2014, at 17.8 per cent, according to the report.

The new findings suggest that corruption has a low impact on Rwandans though.

Only 17 per cent are affected by corrupt transactions involving significant amounts of money. The analysis also shows that men are more likely to encounter corruption (21 per cent) than women (12.9 per cent).

On the likelihood of encountering some form of corrupt transaction on the supply or demand side, the private sector in general scores the best with only 1.8 per cent of likelihood, the local government (4.7 per cent likelihood) and Police 6.3 per cent likelihood, the worst in this category.

Police and local government are also the two institutions which account for around 41 per cent of the share of the accumulated national bribe in the last six years.

Theos Badege, the commissioner for CID, said Police are working hard to check corruption though it still faces challenges.

"The Police work in different places and at different times. It interacts with many people and this increases the chances of being enticed with bribes,” Badege said.

Clement Musangabatware, the deputy Ombudsman in charge of preventing and fighting corruption, said more sensitisation is being conducted on the dangers of corruption.

"We are continuously sensitising people about the negativities of corruption. Rwanda must be a zero tolerance country for corruption. And those that engage in it must be punished,” he said.

The likelihood of a Rwandan citizen encountering corruption in the country is comperatively lower than elsewhere in the region.