Property auctions will soon go digital in a bid to curb corruption thanks to a Ministerial Order relating to the electronic execution of enforcement orders, which was approved by the Cabinet on Friday, March 6. An enforcement order is an order by a court to force a person or organisation to comply with a regulation of law. Johnston Busingye, Minister of Justice, told The New Times that; “The rationale is to go online in the execution of enforceable orders…it will reduce the human element in the auction process thereby tackle corruption and undervaluation of auctioned properties.” “It will be implemented very soon, we are in the process of gazetting (it).” Bidders will offer prices that will be recorded online and remain there, and the highest price will be considered as the winning bid. The winner will only be unveiled after the deadline. The move will help fill the gaps which were enabling unscrupulous people to devalue properties subject to auction. In July 2018, an official from the Ministry of Justice told The New Times that the new online system to manage auctions could be operational by October this year if all goes according to plan. With this system, the property to be auctioned and its details will be posted online with a starting price determined by professional valuers. Last month, the Office of the Ombudsman and legislators requested that the Ministerial Order governing online auction be expedited in order to support efforts to check corruption and property devaluation, which they argued was partly to blame for loopholes created by physical contacts between involved parties. “It is the Ministerial Order that Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Ombudsman have been asking us to expedite. The “Enforcement Order” term is inclusive, meant to include all orders that are due and enforceable under the law. They include court judgments, [and] orders of the Registrar General at RDB (Rwanda Development Board),” Minister Busingye said.
