New anti-corruption drive launched

The office of the Ombudsman has rolled out information boxes designed to enable citizens easily report corruption. The new strategy was launched at the motor vehicle control technical facility in Kigali on Monday. Speaking at the launch, Clément Musangabatware, the deputy Ombudsman in charge of preventing and fighting corruption, said the boxes were designed to ease reporting of corruption tendencies. “There are people who can not use the hotline (199), and lack telephones nor feel comfortable to speak to the administrators. This channel of communication will cater for all these categories,” he said. Musangabatware said the choice of location of the first information box was based on the fact that traffic police is perceived to be one of the most corrupt institutions in Rwanda. But the boxes will be extended to other institutions like Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA), Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) among others, he said. Musangabatware said all boxes’ keys will only be possessed by the Ombudsman’s office which will periodically collect the papers dropped in by the public. The spokesperson of Rwandan Traffic Police, Supt Jean Marie Vianey Ndushabandi, said the new strategy will help both police and the Office of Ombudsman to fight corruption. “The Police are willing to help the public to easily report corruption cases. This will help the people to give information in privacy,” he said. Supt Ndushabandi said Police remains vulnerable to corruption because they have direct contact with people in their daily work. “This is one of the best methods to fight against this vice,” he noted. Theodore Hakizimana, a Kigali resident, said the new information gathering strategy will help protect whistle blowers. Findings of a survey conducted by Transparency International Rwanda (between January and June 2012) indicated that introducing information boxes at public offices directly promoted good governance. The information boxes on corruption will be put in public places and in toilets for the safety of those who may be scared to report.

National

New anti-corruption drive launched