Infrastructure ministry to audit water, energy bodies after weekend arrests

Three days after the arrest of the Managing Director of Energy Development Corporation Limited (EDCL), Emmanuel Kamanzi, and the former chief executive of Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC), James Sano, the Ministry of Infrastructure is sending teams to conduct a thorough audit of the two agencies. Speaking exclusively to The New Times yesterday, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Christian Rwakunda, said although the ministry is in charge of policy and their agencies are tasked with implementation, there were quarterly reviews to ascertain whether the former were delivering as required but there is need for an extensive audit as soon as possible. James Sano. “As the Ministry, we conduct quarterly audits into project monitoring and implementation, procurement and financial reviews. The next audit was scheduled for end of September but recent incidents have forced us to bring it forward and we will be sending teams to review and provide recommendations,” he said. Rwakunda said that every institution was obliged to use the set rules and regulations when conducting official business. “There has been improvement in terms of project implementation and revenue generation from both institutions. However, we have procurement rules and you just cannot conduct public business without following the law,” Rwankunda said. Police spokesperson Theos Badege told The New Times that investigations were in their initial stages to ascertain who else was involved in the alleged crimes. Asked why the two institution leaders were in custody for illegally awarding tenders when the exercise is the responsibility of tender committees, Badege said that investigation was being conducted to prove if, indeed, there had been direct involvement of any of the suspects. Emmanuel Kamanzi. “Just to be clear, these two cases are not directly linked. It’s just a coincidence that they were both arrested on the same day and we are not sure how many people are involved. The two may not have been on the tender committees but what we are trying to determine is the extent of their involvement in the deals,” Badege said. “As we build their files, we follow the chain and see who else is involved in the alleged crimes. It is important for people to understand that there is no room for error,” he added. In his report for the 2015/16 fiscal year, Auditor General Obadiah Biraro told Parliament that WASAC was to take action on how its assets and finances were being mismanaged. WASAC is one of the eight institutions that take 60 per cent of the national budget. “For instance, WASAC has a stock of equipment worth Rwf1.3 billion that had never been put to use and that is not all, two water pumping stations were built in Nyagatare at a cost of Rwf1.7 billion and it has spent two years without being operational,” the Auditor General wrote. Biraro said of the Rwf12.2 billion that public institutions had not properly accounted for, the largest chunks were with the two institutions. WASAC had Rwf3.9 billion and EDCL Rwf2.8 billion. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Infrastructure ministry to audit water, energy bodies after weekend arrests