*President first to declare wealth

KIGALI  - As by yesterday, 944 government employees had not yet declared their wealth to the office of the Ombudsman nearly a month after the deadline of June, 30, The New Times has learnt.

Statistics from the office of Ombudsman show that about 5,648 public officials in institutions qualify to file the declarations at the office.

The New Times has also learnt that President Paul Kagame, Prime Minister Bernard Makuza and and Senate president Vincent Biruta were among the first leaders to declare their wealth.

Government employees are required to submit their income, assets and liabilities for verification by the office of Ombudsman before June, 30 of every year.

"But it’s difficult at this stage to know the reasons why they have not complied. After vetting those who have submitted their declaration forms, we shall write to them,” Jeanne Mwisaneza, director of the Wealth Declarations Unit explained.

 "It is still early to know whether these people refused to comply on purpose. I cannot start apportioning blame today”.

She added that sometimes leaders fail to declare their wealth in time because some keep changing jobs from time to time.

"Other institutions have been merged. Look at Rwanda Development Board (RDB) where many employees changed positions and this could have slowed down the response,” Mwisaneza explained.

Other leaders, Mwisaneza added were discovered to have gone for further studies outside the country by the time declarations forms are forwarded.

"But we shall find out exactly what went wrong after we have got explanations from the institutions where they come from,” she said in an exclusive interview at her office in Kimihurura.

Last year, following the wealth declaration exercise, many leaders also failed to meet the deadline.

 The NewTimes could not readily obtain the names of the leaders or institutions who have not declared their wealth. She said leaders who will try to explain but fail to convince will be disciplined.

The 2006 wealth declaration law was passed to strengthen the fight against corruption through increased accountability and transparency by top leaders in government.

The idea behind the declarations is that officials who amass wealth beyond what their earnings can justify should be investigated and punished.

They include the President, Prime Minister, ministers, judges, MPs, Police, Army, Prisons officers, heads of departments in central and local governments, district councillors, leaders in public bodies, Ambassadors, among others.

 Last year, officials from the Ombudsman unearthed cases of some officials who built expensive houses and bought cars but could not satisfactorily explain where they got the money from.

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