The Senate on Monday, February 14 deliberated on its Committee on Political Affairs and Governance’s assessment of the 2020-2021 activity report of the Ombudsman’s Office. The report exposed major issues in different areas including injustice in cases tried in courts as well as frauds in funds and social protection management. Here are the five major issues identified in the Office of Ombudsman’s report that need urgent attention and action. Cases of SACCO staff fraudulently taking loans in customers’ names The Ombudsman’s report shows that a review carried out on the operations of 12 cooperatives in the country indicated among other issues, cases of injustice whereby some staff members of the Savings and Credits Cooperatives (SACCOs) take out loans in the names of customers without the latter’ knowledge. This situation puts the customers – who the report said are unable to read [the financial institution terms] – in an inconvenient condition where they have to repay the loan they did not get. According to the report, such fraud is incentivised by lack of automation in SACCOs as loan requests are done by manually filling a form, and the same applies to granting loans. “Such operations create a loophole that enables the theft of money from customers’ accounts as SACCO employees use them (the forms) to withdraw or get loans unbeknown to the account holders,” the report said. Citing some examples, the report said that a former accountant of Ntyazo SACCO in Nyanza District took out a loan of Rwf4 million through the account of its customer without them knowing. Similarly, the former treasurer of Karibu Rukomo SACCO in Nyagatare District withdrew over Rwf9.2 million from its customers’ accounts yet the holders had no idea about what was going on. Increase of injustice in cases tried by courts The Ombudsman report shows that in 2020/2021, the office received 361 cases submitted for review on grounds of injustice committed in court judgements. The office analysed 343 of these cases (95 per cent), while 18 (5 per cent) were yet to be looked into by the end of the fiscal year under review. Of the 343 analysed files, 42 were considered to have been unfairly judged, representing 12.2 per cent. The rate of injustice identified by the Ombudsman in court cases was higher – by 2.3 percentage points – compared to last year when the level of injustice was at 9.9 percent. The Ombudsman requested the Supreme Court to order retrial of those cases in question. Mismanagement of milk for malnourished children An audit carried out on the programme to supply milk to children faced with malnutrition indicated that this programme was marred with management challenges. The issues identified include mismatch in the packaging of the milk vis-à-vis what is contained in the agreement between the suppliers and government through the institution in charge of childhood development. Among the discrepancies established includes the label ‘not for sale’ that was supposed to be put on the packs but does not appear on those that were being supplied during the period in review. This problem, the Ombudsman said, resulted in some beneficiary families selling the milk, or the distributors of the milk embezzling it. Other issues identified in this initiative include milk going bad because of pour storage, and inadequate milk provision to beneficiaries because of stock-out. However, the report noted that the number of stunted children receiving milk in health centres increased compared to previous fiscal years – 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, and that the funding allocated to this initiative more than doubled to Rwf5.9 billion in 2019-2020 from over Rwf2.8 billion in the previous fiscal year. Malpractices in Shisha Kibondo programme The Office of the Ombudsman’s report also exposed cases whereby relatively well to do families benefited from free meals distributed by government to tackle malnutrition in poor families under the Shisha Kibondo programme. The programme is designed to tackle stunting among children aged 6-23 months. Also, the programme caters for pregnant and breastfeeding women through access to fortified blended food – used to make highly nutritious porridge. The targeted beneficiaries are the most vulnerable people in the first Ubudehe category, countrywide, or the second Ubudehe category in 13 districts that have the highest poverty levels. However, the report revealed that there are people who got the nutritious flour yet they have means, citing teachers, nurses, and business operators. Such malpractices are a hindrance to the country’s target to reduce stunting among children under five years of age from 33 percent as of 2020 to 19 percent by 2024. High land transfer fees Another issue that was exposed by the report is a flat fee of Rwf30,000 that was imposed on the transfer of land regardless of size, location and value, which some residents decry as being high. The Ombudsman’s Office requested that concerned entities should consider a way to lower that cost based on the land size, location and its intended use (value). It is to note that, while appearing before the Chamber of Deputies on October 6, 2020, the Minister of Environment, Jeanne dArc Mujawamariya, pledged that the revised land transfer fees would be introduced in December 2020, something that did not happen.
