Notaries have been called upon to improve their services to citizens while upholding professionalism, accountability and integrity.
Notaries have been called upon to improve their services to citizens while upholding professionalism, accountability and integrity.
The call was made by Evode Uwizeyimana, the Minister of State for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Thursday, at a one- day meeting of public notaries in Kigali.
The meeting, that brought together all public notaries from district level, Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) and Rwanda Development Board (RDB), was convened to assess their performance, responsibilities and service delivery.
Uwizeyimana cited to the 2016 Citizen Report Card by Rwanda Governance Board which put public satisfaction in notary services at 60 per cent.
"A citizen evaluates good governance depending on how they are served. How will they be satisfied if they spend the entire week searching for notaries? Citizens’ feedback should push you to work hard to improve on the way you serve them,” he told the notaries.
Notaries were urged to offer timely services to dignify the country’s judicial system.
The country today has 911 notaries and their services were decentralised to ease access to their services.
Uwizeyimana urged the group to be vigilant to avoid notifying forged documents.
Félicien Usengumukiza, the head of governance, research and monitoring at Rwanda Governance Board, said that the Government targets to improve service delivery up to 85 per cent by 2018.
In the 2016 Citizen Report Card, citizens particulary criticised the services delivered by notaries in charge of land transactions, Usengumukiza said.
"If the information provided by notaries is not accurate, this affects the whole system. Notaries’ services aallow citizens to get other services. Notaries occupy crucial seats in the development of the country,” he said.
Moise Munyaneza, a legal advisor and a notary of Nyamagabe District, said that the meeting was productive because participants shared their views on how to improve services.
Uwizeyimana informed the notaries that the services they provide will go online in coming days.
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