KIGALI - The 7th Auditor General report shows that public funds continue to disappear under unclear circumstances characterised by gross mismanagement of resources by government institutions and deliberate refusal to be accountable.

Following the release of the 2008 Auditor General’s report yesterday, the MPs have owned-up, admitting their failure as legislators to take strong measures on the culprits and vowed they will not let it happen for the seventh time.

Despite a decline in the amount of funds that went uncounted for from Rwf6.5bn to in 2007 to Rwf4.4bn in 2008 and the number of institutions that failed to account for their expenditures from 54 institutions to 29, the lawmakers said they still nothing to be proud of.

Majority of the MPs promised action to the 4-volume massive report presented by the Deputy Auditor General Obadiah Biraro vowing to use their constitutional powers to act and make the culprits answerable.

"I think the Auditor General office has done a great job, now it is time for us to act and see that some things change here. While we are thinking of increasing the capacity of the Auditor General we should also think of ways to stop this deliberate theft,” MP Evariste Kalisa said
Kalisa’s worry is that the same people or institutions that appeared in the 2007 report resurfaced in the 2008 report again over embezzling or mismanaging public funds and they went away with it.

MP Connie Bwiza challenged fellow lawmakers to take action as ‘the ball remains in the MPs side of the court’ since the AG’s office reports directly to the house.

She expressed fear that report would be considered ineffective if implicated persons and institutions continue to go about their businesses unabated.

MP Abbas Mukama said that the house should not sit back and watch as the state continues to choke on debts incurred illegally by institutions, citing the City of Kigali which took a loan without government approval and now the government has to foot interest bill amounting to Rwf106m.

"What are we doing then? What is our role in this? It is time to act,” Mukama said.

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