District officials suspended over Ombudsman report

Rwamagana District Advisory Council, over the weekend, approved an immediate three- month suspension of the district Executive Secretary, Geoffrey Mushaija, over alleged neglect of duty, as demanded by the Executive Committee. Also reprimanded are officials from the Good Governance department; John Sebakara, Jean Bosco Byaruhanga and Philip Ruramirwa, whose one month’s salary would be sliced by a quarter. Chantal Ingabire, who works in the general secretariat office, will be presented with a written warning. The district Executive Committee, chaired by the Mayor, Nehemie Uwimana, filed a request to suspend Mushaija, following reports that days back, the office of Ombudsman ranked Rwamagana last in the country, with a general average mark of 0 percent in various aspects. This was after the evaluators failed to have any district official attend to them, a situation the Executive Committee squarely blamed on Mushaija. According to the chairman of the Advisory Council, Alphonse Murenzi, Mushaija was responsible for the poor grading of the district. Speaking to The New Times immediately after the extraordinary meeting, Murenzi said that the council would not tolerate incompetent officials in public office. “The Executive Secretary was the person supposed to receive the Ombudsman officials...he never did so and never informed the Executive Committee. Negligence of that magnitude cannot be tolerated,” he said. Murenzi further warned that other local leaders responsible for derailing the district’s development would not be spared either. “The private sector is normally frustrated by poor leaders...this must end! We forewarn other leaders behaving in an unfortunate manner”. Reacting to the suspension, scores of Rwamagana district residents insisted that local leaders’ negligence and abuse of office should be brought to a halt. Moses Nizeyimana, a businessman, said that the suspension of incompetent leaders was a positive trend that should continue. “Our district is haunted by long time poor leadership...something must be done to bring to book individuals responsible. We need leadership from cell level to the district that respect people’s interests. “There are good structures and policies, but the issue has always been their implementation,” he said. The decision of the council is expected to be forwarded to the Provincial Governor for formality purposes. stephen.rwembeho@newtimes.co.rw

National

District officials suspended over Ombudsman report