14 March 2019
Rwanda established an Ombudsman office to fight against graft. The office has investigation and prosecution powers. It also has specialized chambers dealing with corruption at Intermediate Court.
A national-level advisory council against corruption and injustice was created to direct strategies and improve the sharing of information related to corrupt activity.
Rwanda is also a member of several ant-corruption organizations, such as the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities and its asset recovery subgroup, as well as the Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Centre, the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and others.
World Bank rankings show Rwanda has made considerable progress, rising from a 26 percent score in 1996 to 71 percent in 2017. Transparency International’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Rwanda 48, up from 83 in 2005 and 121 in 2006. This is an impressive progress.
Rwanda enacted a new law in September 2018, to fight corruption by expanding the definition of corruption to include bribery, sexual corruption, embezzlement, making decisions based on favouritism, friendship or hatred, influence peddling, illicit enrichment, use of public property for unintended purposes, abuse of power, and demanding or receiving undue or excessive money. The FCPA Blog reported.
While countries like Nigeria talk a lot about fighting corruption, they show little progress in reality. Rwanda has proven its fight against corruption without making much noise about it.
This determination to fight corruption has translated into an economic success. Forbes says that this tiny East African nation has proven to be a role model for the continent. The country has reduced its reliance on donations and currently, domestically funds about 84% of the budget, up from about 36% two decades ago. Various speakers, at business summits across the world, have singled it out as one of the emerging economies to look out for in terms of investment opportunities, value for money and economic growth. Forbes reported.
