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REPUBLIC OF RWANDA. OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN. GOOD GOVERNANCE BASED ON INSPECTION AND CONTROL. LOCATION OF RWANDA. BACKGROUND HISTORY. East-central Africa, is surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi..
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REPUBLIC OF RWANDA OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN GOOD GOVERNANCE BASED ON INSPECTION AND CONTROL
BACKGROUND HISTORY East-central Africa, is surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi.. Steep mountains and deep valleys cover most of the country: Virunga Mountains, Volcano Karisimbi (14,187 ft; 4507 m), Rwanda's highest point. Tutsi Genocide which took a million of them but now the country has experienced a quick recovery just after fifteen years .
SOME RWANDA MAIN FEATURES • Good governance • Promotion of gender equality: women in taking decision organs, minimum of 30% : 56% Parliament, 36 % Cabinet, 46% Supreme Court • Decentralisation • Public service reforms • Financial reforms • Procurement reforms • Judiciary reforms • Permanent appraisal of civil servants
OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN LEGAL FRAMEWORK Independent public institution which was established by the 2003 Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda , article 182.It is a hybrid institution which deals at the same time with : Addressing injustice complaints ; Investigating corruption cases ; Monitoring good governance; Promoting integrity and transparency.
OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN • The Ombudsman Office is the only institution with the exclusive powers of preventing and combating corruption; • For the last five years anti-corruption investigative powers were only vested with the Ombudsman and his two deputies, but presently the office has been granted full investigative powers.
OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN • The Office doesn’t however prosecute the suspects because prosecutorial powers are constitutionally vested in the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA). Thus, upon completion of investigations, the case with its evidence is referred to the Prosecutor-General for prosecution.
DECLARATION OF ASSETS &PATRIMONY Have the duty to declare every year their assets and patrimony to the office of the ombudsman: High ranking government officials; People involved in public and finance management.
H.E Paul Kagame submitting his declaration of assets & patrimony
The Prime Minister declaring his wealth at the Office of the Ombudsman
LEADERSHIP CODE OF CONDUCT Interdiction to high ranking officials (conflict of interest, mismanagement of public funds, misbehavior, etc ) Sanctions (Penal And Administrative Sanctions)
INTEGRITY AWARD A person to be attributed an integrity award in both public and private institutions : • Performant in his/her duties • Ethic • Moral • Respect of deontology • Responsible
INSTITUTIONS IN CHARGE OF AUDITING Office of the Ombudsman deals with injustice and mal administration including operational audits Public ProcurementAuthority: regulations and monitoring procurement procedures Office of the Auditor General; Financial management
OBJECTIVES In its auditing exercise, the Office examine: • the structure of the institution, the leadership, • institution’s policies, procedures, manuals in relation to the above are appropriate and complied with the law; • the quality of service delivered; • whether functioning and daily routine respects principles of good governance: transparency, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness; • Whether functioning does not give loopholes of corruption and injustice .
OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN • Operational audits in central government: ministries , commisions, governmental agencies and parastatals; • Operational audits in local government: reports on 14 districts in 2007 and 16 districts in 2008; • Cases found are investigated ( public tenders misallocation and embezzlement).
RWANDA PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AUTHORITY • Established by Law n° 12//2007 of 29/03/2007. • Checking public tenders because it introduced transparent and objective processes through which the government tenders are to be done. • Has established many regulations related to procurement procedures • Capacity building in public procurement • Monitor public procurement procedures in public institutions
Achievements • Procurement officers in all public institutions • Creation of tender committees in all public institutions • Creation of independent organs of appeals in different institutions as well as on national level • Since its creation, tender procedures have been respected as compared to earlier period. • The value of tenders awarded without the approval of the internal tender committees and the RPPA has dramatically reduced while the value of tenders awarded through open competition has increased. • Specifically the 2007 Auditor General’s report indicates that 9 public entities did not have any case of non compliance and 13 did not have any case of unsupported expenditure
RWANDA PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AUTHORITY • The amount of expenditure without supporting documents remains high and has actually increased especially in districts as a result of the non respect of procedures. • The Tender Committee shall reject any bidder’s offer where it is established that the latter was engaged in any corrupt or fraudulent practices while competing for public procurement contract. The procuring entity shall promptly notify this rejection to the concerned bidder”
Stages of the Procurement Process and irregularities Procurement Planning Preparation Advertisement Pre-qualification Bid Evaluation Award of Contract Poor planning or lack of plans No criteria for project selection Lack of circulation or lack of information biased requirements towards a favored bidder Wide discretion Inordinate length of time for signing Lack of verification or systematic/long delays in payments Contract Implementation
OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL • Institution instituted by the Constitution of Republic of Rwanda in its article 183. • Independent national institution responsible for the audit of state finances”. • Reporting to the parliament • Created to control mismanagement of government funds. • It continuously audits government adherence to fiscal controls. • It has managed to make substantial progress in making government finances more transparent and to expose public officials who have mismanaged public funds. • Many of such officials have resigned while others brought before courts of law.
MOST COMMON FINDINGS • Cases of embezzlement • Non respect of procedures • Lack of supporting documents • Non respect of tendering procedures • Non respect of assets management procedures • Lack of transparency in recruitment procedures
ACTIONS TAKEN - Non respect of procedures: • Administrative sanctions; • Penal sanctions - Strenghtening internal audit • Creation of audit committees in different institutions
ACTIONS TAKEN (Cont.d) • Rwanda has made impressive progress in rebuilding its public financial management which was largely destroyed by genocide. A new public financial management system and public expenditure management has been set up. • In order to ensure an effective public financial management system, the government has introduced the following measures; • Zero fleet transport policy; • Zero balance budget; • Introduction of Internal Auditors at all levels; • Empowering the Office of the Auditor General; • Introduction of computer technology in the management system; • Fixed ceilings and prepaid telephone bills for staff.
MOBILIZING YOUTH AGAINST CORRUPTION: Student anti- corruption clubs
AN ANTI CORRUPTION STUDENTS CLUB FROM SCHOOL OF FINANCE AND BANKING WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA
MEDIA RECOURSE -Talk shows on radio and television. Sketch and spots -Debates on radios and television. -Magazine -Town meetings
WHAT NEXT? Sharing Rwanda good anti-corruption practices with other countries; Learn from experiences of those countries Assistance in enhancing human resource capacities