Rwanda Energy Group (REG) has declared that it will not tolerate any corruption from its employees as such acts derail its goals to achieve efficiency in energy generation and electricity access.

The Group stated that it will be reinforcing its disciplinary committee, which will be given authority to sack any corrupt employee, the New Times reported.

The move follows after last week police arrested the former Managing Director of Energy Development Corporation Ltd (EDCL), Emmanuel Kamanzi, for allegedly disregarding standard procedures in issuing tenders.

It is reported that Kamanzi awarded tenders for 10 defective transformers worth $45,000 and 400 electric poles for $280,000.

The managing director of Energy Utilities Corporation Ltd, Jean Claude Kalisa, revealed that two years ago, about 10 employees were fired due to corruption.

Kalisa said: “The disciplinary committee is not a court, but once it has facts that an employee has engaged in corruption, or in activities connected to it, dismissal follows; and if there are any consequences that might ensue, the institution will deal with them. But, we will never condone corruption.”

Media cited The East African Bribery Index 2017, which indicates that Rwanda remains the least corrupt country in the region.

However, it states that Rwanda’s highest prevalence in corruption was recorded at utilities (water and electricity) where 18% of respondents reported paying bribes to access the services.

REG CEO, Ron Weiss, commented: “The East African Bribery Index is focusing on issues that should be solved. We want to deal with, and to improve much, much better on these issues.”

Energy access target

Meanwhile, Weiss said that the energy group is setting up projects for energy generation and transmission, with the target to achieve 100% energy access for all Rwandans by 2024. Read more…

Rwanda has set a target to generate 563MW and to enable 70% of all households to access electricity by 2018.