Minister Gatete faces questioning in parliament over utility agencies
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Claver Gatete.

The Minister for Infrastructure, Claver Gatete, is expected to appear before the Lower House Tuesday afternoon to respond to queries related to the performance of water and electric utilities.

MPs say the Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) and Rwanda Energy Group (REG) have continuously been linked to issues pertaining to mismanagement and operations, with concerns around idle assets recorded over several years among major issues.

According to the media office at the Chamber of Deputies, Gatete was expected to offer explanations pertaining to concerns raised during a virtual plenary sitting.

In November last year lawmakers singled out WASAC for what some referred to as abysmal performance over the previous five financial years (from 2014/15-2018/19), which earned it a disclaimer audit opinion from the Office of the Auditor General of State Finances.

A disclaimer of opinion is issued when an auditor is unable to complete the audit report due to the absence of financial records or insufficient cooperation from management of the concerned body.   

At the Rwanda Energy Group (REG), parliamentarians expressed concerns over public asset mismanagement cases, which made it impossible for the parastatal to be audited for the fiscal year 2017/2018 and 2018/2019.