Rwanda has signed an agreement that will see it host anti-corruption training for people from Africa and other countries of the world. Signed between the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the state of Qatar and the Government of Rwanda—the agreement is part of the ongoing global efforts to build capacity to fight corruption. It aims to provide a cooperative framework for developing and implementing activities for training against corruption. According to Ali Bin Fetais, the United Nations Special Advocate for the Prevention of Corruption, under the deal, Kigali will be a centre for the training of up to 1,000 people every year. The specific date for the start of the trainings is not yet established, but there is hope that by 2020 the first cohort will begin training. In the framework of the agreement, areas for collaboration which are expected to be realised include: capacity building in anti-corruption, training of trainers, transparency, accountable and inclusive institutions, international law, and sustainable development in anti-corruption. A specific agreement will be signed for every specific area of cooperation to agree on technical and financial settings. According to Providence Umurungi, the head of International Justice and Judicial Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Justice, Rwanda is responsible for providing the space where the trainings will be hosted, UNITAR will provide the expertise in the form of trainers and the government of Qatar will finance the project. Fetais said that Rwanda was chosen to host the project due to the country’s exemplary position on the continent and the recovery made after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. “I am sure that Africa needs people like you for a lesson,” he said. According to the Transparency Internationa (TI) Corruption Perception Index, a global index that measures the level of corruption across the world, in 2018 Rwanda improved by one point to score 56 out of 100, making it one of the five least corrupt countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rwanda was ranked the fourth least corrupt country in Africa behind Seychelles, Botswana, and Cape Verde. In East Africa, Rwanda was found to be the least corrupt country while, globally, the country was ranked the 48th. Johnston Busingye the Minister of Justice and Attorney General said that the agreement is important in taking forward the agenda of capacity building in respective institutions, which will combat corruption.
