Supreme Court names and shames over graft

KIGALI - In a battle to wipe out corruption, the Supreme Court has released a list of 94 individuals convicted for corruption.The list was compiled last year between July and September by the Supreme Court and was only released recently.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

KIGALI - In a battle to wipe out corruption, the Supreme Court has released a list of 94 individuals convicted for corruption.

The list was compiled last year between July and September by the Supreme Court and was only released recently. The implicated individuals, who are from both the public and private sectors, were singled out after thorough investigations.

According to Anne Gahongayire, the Permanent Secretary in Supreme Court, the list is part of the government’s efforts to name and shame individuals caught in corruption-related cases such as bribery and influence peddling.

"As you know, the Supreme Court is one of the institutions mandated to fight corruption. One way to do this is put the names of those implicated in public so that they are known everywhere,” Gahongayire said.

A source in the Supreme Court told The New Times, that the list of the convicted persons will be forwarded to the Ministry of Public Service and Labour so that those who have been working in public service are blacklisted.

"This means that on top of serving their jail term, they will not be allowed to work in any public office in Rwanda. Their names will be availed to all institutions and Non Governmental Organisations,” an insider said.

According to Gahongayire, some of the people were caught trying to bribe court officials including judges, to influence judicial decisions while others were caught from both the public and private domain and arraigned before the court and found guilty.

The 94 persons are serving jail sentences that range between one to six years.

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