After spending over Rwf 6 billion on housing for survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, an assessment carried out by the Auditor General has revealed that the construction was not worth the amount of money spent.

The Auditor General carried out the assessment study on the request of the Senate.

The audit, that was carried for the period 2006 – 2007 looked at the funds utilised by Fund for Genocide Survivors (FARG) for the construction of shelter and projects to help survivors.

Presenting his report to the Senate, the AG, Obadiah Biraro, reported that records from FARG and from MINALOC, indicate that Rwf 3. 3 billion was transferred by FARG to districts for the construction of houses during that period.

He added that a total of Rwf 3.1bn was spent from the FARG budget in 2008 to purchase cement, iron sheets and roofing nails.

"The loss of value for money is due to inadequate documentation to confirm the quantity of materials supplied. No documentation was provided by the ministry to show the exact quality of iron sheets delivered by the supplier. Ultimately, it is difficult to confirm whether the iron sheets delivered to the ministry were of the appropriate type and quality,” said the AG.

Biraro’s findings indicate that it is evident that although many houses were built, and many projects funded, some of the funds disbursed by FARG and the ministry were not managed properly to realise value for money and achieve the intended purposes.

"A significant number of Genocide survivors and other targeted needy people who had been earmarked to benefit from this funding still need help with shelter since some of them did not actually benefit. Even for those who benefited, some of the houses built are either in a poor state or uninhabitable,” Biraro told the Senate.

The findings also indicate that some of the funds transferred by FARG to districts were not properly accounted for.

"A total of Rwf 212 million received during 2006 and 2007 from FARG by the five Districts visited during the audit was not appropriately supported by underlying documents,” the AG said.

According to the AG’s report, some identified beneficiaries did not receive the construction materials they were entitled to.

"A total of 1,090 eligible individuals selected to receive construction materials did not get them in five districts surveyed, yet 835 others who were not previously on the approved list obtained the materials.”

Part of the AG’s findings indicate that a stock of 37 tonnes of roofing nails worth Rwf 31million was still in the Local Government Ministry’s stores by September 2010, yet some of the beneficiaries who received iron sheets did not receive nails.

In addition, construction materials worth Rwf 11 million  were still stored in districts, sectors and lower administrative units while Rwf 2.6m worth of construction materials were still in the custody of the beneficiaries but were yet to be utilised for construction by December 2010.

Biraro’s findings are similar to those made by the Senate about a year and a half ago.

Senators decide to summon the Prime Minister to update them on how far the government had gone in implementing the recommendations made previously and following up on allegedly embezzled or mismanaged funds meant for survivors’ houses.

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