The Office of the Ombudsman has reported a 45 percent increase in complaints received during the 2024/2025 fiscal year, according to its annual report presented to a joint session of Parliament on October 21.
The report indicated that a total of 2,305 complaintswere received and handled through written submissions and field activities, compared to 1,587registered in 2024.
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Ombudsman Madeleine Nirere attributed the rise in reported complaints to increased public awareness, monitoring of citizens’ complaints, supervision of asset declarations, and data analysis on corruption trends.
Out of the 2,305 complaints that were sent to the Ombudsman, written complaints accounted for 999 cases, while 1,306 were received during field visits conducted under the national programme to prevent and fight injustice.
Regarding the success rate of handling the complaints, the report noted that 501 written submissions and 1,020 field complaints have been resolved, while 337 written cases and 267 field complaints are under follow-up processes by respective institutions. 180 cases remain under direct follow-up by the Ombudsman’s office.
Out of the 1,306 complaints received during field visits in the five districts, Gicumbi recorded the highest number at 26 per cent, followed by Rutsiro with 21 per cent, Nyanza and Kayonza with 20 per cent each, while Nyaruguru recorded 13 per cent.
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In dispute resolution, the Ombudsman mediated 26 cases, successfully resolving 24 through mutual agreement. 18 of the cases involved inheritance, breach of contract, enforcement of court judgments, and land-related disputes, while the remaining eight were court appeals seeking review on grounds of injustice.
Court appeals and injustice analysis
A total of 39 cases were submitted for court review on grounds of perceived injustice, representing 7 per cent of all complaints. Among them, 23 were filed by men, 11 by women, and 5 by others. The office resolved 16 cases through mediation (10 men and 6 women), while 500 cases (272 men, 192 women and 31 others), accounts to 90 per cent were denied review due to lack of evidence of injustice.
A breakdown by case type revealed that family and inheritance disputes dominated the appeals, with 25 cases requested for review, 11 resolved through mediation, and 347 found to have no injustice, totaling 383 cases.
These were followed by criminal cases, with four requested for review, three resolved through mediation, and 103 found to have no injustice, making a total of 110 cases.
Business disputes included six cases requested for review, none resolved through mediation, and 25 found to have no injustice, totaling 31 cases.
HAPPENING: The Office of the Ombudsman is presenting its 2024/2025 annual activity report and 2025/2026 action plan to a joint session of both Chambers of Parliament.
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Labour disputes involved two cases requested for review, two resolved through mediation, and 13 found to have no injustice, making 17 cases in total.
Governance issues recorded two requests for review, none resolved through mediation, and 12 found to have no injustice, totaling 14 cases.
During the period, the office received 33 corruption-related cases. Of these, 16 were referred to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), 10 to other institutions for workplace misconduct, three lacked evidence and four remain under investigation. The cases involved a total of 66 people, 37 of whom were referred to RIB.
