When the Ombudsman appeared before Parliament this week to expound on her latest annual report, she failed to allay many a legislator’s fears that wrongdoers were getting off scot-free. One of the glaring cases of mismanagement was reported in the now defunct Energy Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) where in some of the projects it was overseeing, only about 25 per cent of the Rwf3 billion allocated for the activities was put to actual use. In one case, EWSA had to dish out over a billion francs in penalties for failing to honour its part of the deal. The question is: who will pick the tab? Sometime back, it was resolved that those who cause financial loss to the government would be made to pay, but the Ombudsman never broached that subject. Huge losses that stem from negligence or purely nefarious intentions, should not burden the population, but the responsible figures running the loss-making institutions should be brought to account. Only a no-nonsense and robust approach in dealing with such matters will drive the message home, and that will only happen if the Ombudman’s Office accompanies its reports with concrete recommendations of sanctions against the offenders commensurate with the offence committed. Otherwise, it will be back to Square One where the government continues to reel under its officials’ blunders. The same goes for the Auditor General’s Office, there should be no kid gloves in handling those responsible for billions of hard-earned francs being flushed down the drain. They should be told in no uncertain terms that recreation is over.
