Ombudsman wants four political parties banned

The Ombudsman, Tito Rutaremara, has requested the Senate to consider banning political parties that have not declared their wealth to his office. Tito Rutaremara made the request Thursday while presenting the 2007 annual report to both Chambers of Parliament. He said that out of the eight registered political organizations in the country, four had not declared their wealth since the practice began four years ago. He cited Parti Démocrate Idéale (PDI), Union Démocratique du Peuple Rwandais (UDPR), Parti Socialiste Rwandais (PSR), and the Parti pour la Progress et la Concorde (PPC), as having failed to declare their assets. PDI is headed by Internal Security Minister Mussa Fazil Harerimana, while PPC is led by Senator Alivera Mukabaramba. The former MP, Claire Kayirangwa– who is likely to become one of the country’s representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly– and MP Jean Baptiste Rucibigango, head UDPR and PSR, respectively. All the four parties rallied behind the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF)’s President Paul Kagame during the 2003 presidential elections. Rutaremara said that the Senate should not allow the said political parties to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections until they declare their wealth. The elections are set for September 15, 2008. All political organizations are obliged to abide by the laws. If they don’t have any assets to declare, they should also inform us, but that not believable because their followers contribute something, Rutaremara said. He added: If they don’t declare their wealth, then the Senate should consider dissolving them. However, PDI claimed that it had declared its wealth to the Ombudsman’s office but Rutaremara was not aware of it. The Ombudsman said that PDI may have declared late after his office had compiled the annual report. Individual declarations Meanwhile, the report shows that President Kagame, Senate President Dr Vincent Biruta, Speaker Alfred Mukezamfura and Chief Justice Aloysia Cyanzayire all declared their wealth in time. The report also indicates that 25 senators and 29 cabinet ministers also declared their wealth but 5 MPs did not do so Rutaremara said that the list of MPs on his list exceeded the actual number of lawmakers in the Lower House. I have a list of 85 MPs instead of 80, and the extra five are the ones who have not declared their wealth. Those five were once MPs and left the August House but my office was not given any official communication that they were no longer MPs; that is why they are on the list, Rutaremara said. The Ministry of Defence, Rwanda Revenue Authority and the National University of Rwanda have the largest number of officials who have not declared their wealth, he said. Out of 265 officials in the Ministry of Defence who were supposed to declare their wealth, 40 of them did not return the declaration forms, while in RRA, out of 312 people, 38 of them did not declare their wealth. After being put on task by MPs to explain why some officials have not declared their wealth, Rutaremara said that many of those in the Ministry of Defence were soldiers who are out of the country on peacekeeping missions. He however did not give details of those listed under RRA and NUR. Cases received in 2007 The Ombudsman’s Office received 1,099 cases in 2007, most of which were domestic or corruption related. It solved 65.6 percent (721 cases) of all cases it received. Out of the total cases received, 191 of them were sent to other organs while the remaining 187 cases are still pending. Rutaremara told MPs that those cases that were referred to other authorities had skipped some administrative levels. The majority of the cases it received, 347, came from the City of Kigali, followed by the Southern province which brought 221 cases, the Eastern Province 183 cases, Northern Province, 176, while the Western Province has the least number of cases with 172. Meanwhile, MPs challenged the Ombudsman, saying that his office was very centralized and that there was no way it could handle all cases from the whole country. Your office is too centralized and that is why I assume you have not managed to solve all the issues that were brought to you, a seemingly concerned Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi. Rutaremara reacted by saying that his office is not in charge of solving disputes but only assists, advises or makes recommendations to other authorities. If I happen to involve myself in solving problems directly, I will be tempering with democracy and the work of the judiciary, he said He however added that his office was currently trying to set up a central digital information gathering system so that they can easily receive any issue addressed to them. During the heated debate on the report, the legislators insisted that Rutaremara reads out the names of officials who refused to declare their wealth or are implicated in malpractices, but he could not bow to the pressure. You are the same people who voted the law which stipulates that my office should not make public names of officials implicated until they are convicted. Change the law and I will give you the list immediately, he reasoned. Senator Odette Nyiramirimo asked the Ombudsman why he always gave brief reports which are often in a summary form. Nyiramirimo is my good friend but I think I have been very soft on this issue of brief reports. She brings the same issue every year and I always give her an answer but she still brings it back. I am wondering whether it’s because she is a Doctor and that is why she wants the details of every issue? Rutaremara replied. He added that if his office released a report that contained all the details, it would take millions of pages. We do give you a summery because we can’t afford to produce a full detailed report; it can be very expensive and too big, Rutaremara said.Ends