Nirere Madeleine the Ombudsman of Rwanda announced that ICT services have played a major part in reducing bribe in Rwanda; she said this during the launch of Rwanda bribery index this Wednesday, the report that was published by Transparency International Rwanda which shows a decrease in bribe issuing as it shifted from 18% to 14%.
According to the report ,98% out of 2360 people including 53,56% of men and 46,44% of women surveyed all over the country during research done by Transparency International Rwanda , reject the fact that they need to give bribe to be given a service only 2% confirmed it ,Nirere Madeleine, The Ombudsman of Rwanda highlighted this “The fact that people can receive services through ICT , has been very useful ,even when you look at what citizens think about corruption,98% believe that they can receive a service without issuing bribe which is a great thing ,only 2% believe that they need to give bribe to get the service ,even if many things have been done there is still a long way to go ,first many things need to be changed in service delivery ” She mentioned.
Mupiganyi Appollinaire ,The Executive Director of TI Rwanda also said that face to face services have been among the ones that increased the rate of bribe “what is clear is that where there is problem is where citizen still get the service face to face ,institutions like WASAC and REG still use face to face services delivery for instance cash power issuing ,water installation ,but we also see the change as for REG once you have been given cash power ,the rest is to pay for electricity you use, but we also see a problem in cash power issuing ,we have been talking about this with REG and WASAC and they show their initiative in preventing such bribe in their service delivery ,they have opened their doors for us and we are now working on service charter with them ,which are ideas that people think about ,but the responsible one is citizen .”He said
Key ICT systems that helped in reducing bribe, E-governance platforms: platforms such as Irembo have helped a lot in reducing bribe as it provides key services online which removes opportunity for officials to receive bribe.
Integrated electronic case management system (IECMS) this system is used in justice sector it modernizes legal system and allow relevant institutions to secure access to cases which also reduce corruption because of its transparency in judicial process. E-procurement: this system ensures tender processes are done digitally and transparently which makes fraud more difficult.
Digital land administration: this system digitizes land records and transactions which reduce bribe as it is transparent and traceable.
Rwanda Bribery index is done every year, this was its 16TH time, many institutions including , private sector institutions,REG ,local government are leading in bribe issuing but some institutions like RURA ,Police and WASAC have made a promising decline in bribe issuing whereas ICT services have played its part as many services have now been put into Irembo system which made it easy for citizens to afford them without being asked for bribe.
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