Ombudsman moves to recover government funds

A process of gathering necessary information that will be used to recover funds and government property lost through embezzlement or corruption will start as soon as possible, a consultative meeting that took place at the Ombudsman’s office on Friday concluded. The government will begin with court judgments on embezzlement and corruption that span six years since 2006. Participants at the meeting on fighting corruption which also brought in the police and the Ministry of Local Government resolved that court cases without reparations and complaints will be brought back to courts so that those reparations can be paid. The Chief Ombudsman, Aloysie Cyanzayire, told journalists in a press briefing after the meeting that the government will also seek information on government properties monopolised by individuals so as to recover them. “We don’t know yet the amount of money we are targeting to recover. We will know it after gathering all necessary information,” she said. Cyanzayire said the embezzlement and corruption court cases also concern funds embezzled before 2006. Many corruption and embezzlement cases were reported over the years since 2006, with police investigations and some government officials jailed over related crimes.