{"id":2287,"date":"2026-07-11T09:05:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T09:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=2287"},"modified":"2026-07-11T09:05:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T09:05:04","slug":"rwanda-sees-drop-in-bribery-cases-but-officials-warn-corruption-risks-persist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/rwanda-sees-drop-in-bribery-cases-but-officials-warn-corruption-risks-persist\/politics\/national\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda Sees Drop in Bribery Cases, but Officials Warn Corruption Risks Persist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Fewer Rwandans reported being asked to pay bribes over the past year, according to a new national survey released Friday, but government officials say corruption risks remain in key public services, particularly construction permitting and public procurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rwanda Bribery Index 2025 found that 14.6% of respondents said they had been asked for a bribe, either directly or indirectly, during the previous 12 months, down from 18.5% in the previous survey. Nearly two-thirds of respondents \u2014 64.6% \u2014 said they believe corruption in Rwanda remains at a low level, while 83.2% expressed confidence in the government’s anti-corruption efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the improvement, the survey identified persistent vulnerabilities in local government service delivery, public procurement, management of public assets and some commercial transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at a national consultation on anti-corruption strategies, Chief Ombudsman Madeleine Nirere said the construction sector continues to face elevated corruption risks because building projects involve large sums of money and applicants often seek faster approval of permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said digitizing permit applications and reducing direct interaction between applicants and public officials would help close opportunities for bribery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“In construction and the issuance of permits, particularly building permits, challenges remain,” Nirere said. “Connecting applicants directly to digital systems is one of the measures that can reduce those loopholes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Minister Dr. Emmanuel Ugirashebuja said corruption weakens public confidence in government institutions and threatens long-term development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Preventing and fighting corruption is not simply about enforcing the law,” he said. “It is an investment in national development founded on good governance, integrity and respect for the rule of law.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Rwandan law, corruption offenses can be prosecuted regardless of when they occurred, allowing authorities to investigate cases whenever new evidence emerges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussions came as Rwanda maintained one of Africa’s strongest anti-corruption records. Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked the country 41st worldwide, third in Africa and first in East Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, the index reported an average score of 42, while more than two-thirds of countries scored below 50. Sub-Saharan Africa recorded an average below 32, underscoring the continuing challenge of corruption across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the past three decades, Rwanda has strengthened its anti-corruption framework through institutions responsible for oversight, public procurement, financial accountability, criminal investigations and prosecution, alongside laws covering asset declaration, illicit enrichment, whistleblower protection, anti-money laundering and asset recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government says it intends to continue expanding digital public services and strengthening oversight in sectors identified as most vulnerable to corruption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fewer Rwandans reported being asked to pay bribes over the past year, according to a new national survey released Friday, but government officials say corruption […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,38,53,41,34,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-facts_on_rwanda","category-featured-stories","category-hot_topics","category-national","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2292,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287\/revisions\/2292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}