Ombudsman’s report in parliament today

The long awaited Ombudsman’s 2008 report is expected to be tabled today before a joint parliamentary session. The report which The New Times has obtained exposes abuse of public office, embezzlement and mismanagement of government resources, and tender scams among other irregularities. It comes at a time when some government officials have ended up behind bars on charges related to corruption. Expected to be presented by Ombudsman Tito Rutaremara, the report indicates that his office conducted inspections on several crimes and what fuels them. The report ranks the most four corrupt institutions as; traffic police, judicial officials, land officials and customs officials on the national stage. While the top four corrupt organs at the grass-root levels were are cell leaders, Gacaca judges, local defence and local mediators. The 75-page report said the office of ombudsman carried out routine accountability checks in 8 ministries, 6 different government institutions, all the provinces and 16 districts. It particularly hits at poor tendering procedures in the above institutions that undermined government’s of ensuring accountability. Some of the ministries where routine checks were carried out included; Infrastructure, Foreign Affairs, Internal Security, Public Service, Local Government, Justice, Commerce and Trade. The reported listed a number of organs that did not respond to the Ombudsman’s letters and some of them include the Ministry of Public Service, Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education. The letters were seeking clarification on several issues that had been unearthed during the inspection. Other issues that feature in the report include poor coordination of responsibilities amongst government institutions, failure to follow normal tendering procedures and discrepancies in salary structures. It also shows how government officials have been complying with declaration their annual assets. Ends

National

Ombudsman’s report in parliament today