KIGALI - Members of Parliament yesterday unanimously voted to reject a probe report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petitions that had challenged the 2008 Ombudsman’s report.

The Committee chaired by Hon. François Byabarumwanzi, was commissioned to examine in detail all issues highlighted in the government tsar’s report.

The Parliament sent back the report back to the committee on the grounds that it was poorly compiled and contained some outdated items.

The 2008 Ombudsman report had initially sparked off anger among several institutions that were singled as being most corrupt.

Presenting his report, Byabarumwanzi’ committee concluded that the whistleblower’s document lacked detailed facts to back its data.

"Issues of nepotism and land wrangles were not well investigated or were not fully exhausted in the report,” Byabarumwanzi told the Parliament yesterday.

"The report also does not name corrupt government officials but instead only gives figures. The same applies to government officials who falsely declared their wealth”.

"There are people who have been implicated in corruption cases but are later cleared; the report does not name these people,” said Byabarumwanzi.

MP Alfred Kayiranga expressed his concern over a number of issues raised by the parliamentary committee and added that the Parliament is currently working on a two-year old report which could be containing outdated elements.

"I assume much of the issues that lacked in this report have been addressed, the Committee should have cross-checked with the Ombudsman’s office so as not to table issues that have already been dealt with,” said Kayiranga.
His intervention was backed by MPs, Alfred Gasana and Yvonne Mukayisenga.

Deputy Speaker, Dr. Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo, said: "The committee is placing blame on the Ombudsman’s report yet it also does not provide us with details of what was missing in the report”.

The 2008 report had indicated that though government had stepped up measures to curtail corruption within various organs, the vice seemed to be reported in grass-root structures and a cross-section of national institutions.

In the report, the government tsar indicated that he had conducted two studies in 2008 examining the gravity of this crime and what fuels it.

One study that looked at the national stage ranked the most four corrupt institutions as; the Traffic police, judicial officials, land and customs officials.

It said the top four corrupt organs at the grass-root levels were; Cell leaders, Gacaca judges, members of the Local Defence and local mediators.

Ends