MPs want ‘liability bill’ fast-tracked to check govt losses

On April 4, 2019, a Nyanza-based court delivered a ruling in which the Government (through the Ministry of Health), was ordered to pay a Rwf25 million fine to a patient for the loss of her arm due to ‘medical negligence’. This is contained in the Auditor General’s report for the financial year 2019/2020. ALSO READ: Public entities lose billions in legal battles The Auditor General’s report indicates that the amount paid for the negligence of the medics should have been put to other activities of the ministry. As regards the cause of the incident, information from the Ministry of Health suggested that a nurse at Munini Hospital tied a plastic tissue on the patient’s arm for taking a blood sample. However, the nurse in question did not remove the tissue which spent more than 24 hours on the patient’s arm. The tissue blocked blood flow into the lower part of the patient’s arm and, consequently, her arm was subsequently cut off. ALSO READ: Government loses over Rwf200 million in civil servant lawsuits It is scenarios like these that compelled the lower chamber of Parliament, on Tuesday, April 25, to request the Ministry of Justice to expedite the drafting of a general law determining liability. Lawmakers want the legal instrument to be established to facilitate the pursuit of people who cause such unnecessary losses to the Government by dragging it into courts as a result of their malpractices. The idea is that, within six months, at least, a bill be presented. This is one of the resolutions the lower house adopted as it approved the Committee on Social Affairs’ analysis of the activity report of the National Public Service Commission for the fiscal year 2021-2022. ALSO READ: Public institutions to be liable for lost lawsuits According to the Commission’s report, 22 public entities were involved in 73 cases with 101 employees in 2021-2022 alone, over decisions taken against public servants in contradiction with the legislation. Those public entities lost 54 cases, accounting for 74 per cent of the total. They only won 19 or 26 per cent of them in the year under review. In the cases that the Government lost in 2021-2022, it was ordered by courts of law to pay over Rwf247 million including damages amounting to over Rwf47 million and over Rwf200 million for which the workers were entitled to get even before taking legal action. Meanwhile, the report exposed five public entities that were frequently involved in court cases – at least twice – in five years before the financial year 2021-2022. These were the Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC), and Rwanda Energy Group (REG) – five times; the University of Rwanda – four times, Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) – two times, and Karongi District – also two times. ALSO READ: Protracted multibillion battle between government, trade union nears end Overall, the Commission’s report showed that the five entities made the Government incur a loss of about Rwf2.2 billion from 2017 to 2021. WASAC alone paid over Rwf2 billion to former workers who took legal actions against it in courts over the entity’s failure to give them the benefits they were entitled to. ‘The need for the tort law’ The Chairperson of the Committee on Social Affairs, MP Odette Uwamariya, said that during discussions with the Ministry of Justice regarding people who cause losses to the Government, the Ministry explained that 45 of out of the 54 court cases it lost stemmed from the former employees of Rwanda Energy Group and Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) who took legal actions against it. Those cases began from the time the current utility entities were Rwanda Electricity Corporation and Rwanda Water and Sanitation Corporation (RECO/RWASCO), later the Energy Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA). ALSO READ: Pay ex-utility employees their due benefits – MPs Lawmakers wanted to know the progress made by the Ministry of Justice in terms of the establishment of a special law relating to the liability of public employees who caused the Government to incur losses in court cases. The Ministry, she said, explained that in implementing the recommendation of the previous year’s report, it started drafting the bill but realised that it would be better to consider all employees, not only civil servants. This, she said, led to the drafting of a general law on liability -- or tort law – a legislation that protects and compensates people who have been harmed through the negligence, recklessness, or intentional acts of wrongdoers. She said: “By the time they were holding discussions with the Committee, they told us that the bill was with the Rwanda Law Reform Commission, waiting for examination before being forwarded to the Cabinet for approval, and subsequent tabling before Parliament.

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MPs want ‘liability bill’ fast-tracked to check govt losses