Members of the public will effective from next week access criminal record certificates through an online platform, the Prosecutor General has confirmed, in a response to public concerns that the current process is complex. The criminal record certificate is an official document issued to an individual to state their criminal record. Whether the individual holds a criminal record or not, the status is documented on the certificate. The document, valid for six months from the issuance date, is a requirement for securing official services such as visas, passports and public sector jobs among others. Hon @BusingyeJohns,could @Rwanda_Justice avail the criminal clearance certificate online?#RRA is already doing this. It’s painful to spend a full morning waiting for it only to be told to come back the next day since the window to pick-up closes at noon. It’s not #therwandawewant — Pitou Gasabira (@PitouGasabira) September 2, 2019 Jean-Bosco Mutangana, the Prosecutor General, said in a tweet on Monday that the National Public Prosecution Authority will start issuing criminal certificates online. “I would like to assure the public that we have been working with @TeamIrembo to have the Criminal Record certificate online. We launch it next week,” he tweeted, while responding to a citizen who had inquired about the possibility of taking the service online. Pitou Gasabira [@PitouGasabira] to whom the Prosecutor General was responding to had expressed concern that it was “painful to spend a full morning waiting for it (certificate) only to be told to come back the next day since the window to pick-up closes at noon.” Issuing the criminal record certificate online is the latest development in a series of initiatives aimed at digitizing public service delivery in Rwanda. More than 90 services are currently obtained online via Irembo, a one-stop portal for e-Government services. The platform is credited for delivering government services with ease, efficiency and reliability. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
