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The Rwanda Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) has ordered the temporary closure of Rwanda Polytechnic Regional College Kigali, in order to investigate serious cases of theft and misappropriation of public resources. According to sources, college equipment allegedly disappeared, and top officials and several employees involved in the management of the institution have been interrogated and arrested.

Following the arrest of a lecturer at the University of Kigali over allegedly forging academic documents, Rwanda’s Higher Education Council (HEC) decided to withdraw recognition for PhD degrees obtained from the United States Atlantic International University. The university has an accreditation from a UK based independent international educational agency, however, dismissed by HEC, because it is not a government agency in charge of accreditation in the UK or elsewhere.

Over 100 students at the private KIM University in Kigali, Rwanda, have not been allowed to graduate in July 2021 after authorities detected that they had altered their grades in the university system. According to the Rwanda Bureau of Investigation, the suspects are accused of electronically falsifying documents and could face sentences of five to seven years in prison and fines ranging from 3 to 5 million Rwandan francs (about US$5,000).

The Director of the now-closed Christian University of Rwanda and the former Prime minister received a three-year jail sentence and a fine of RWF892.2 million (US$907,000) after he was found guilty of issuing cheques that bounced and for failing to pay the teaching and administrative staff. The Rwanda Investigation Bureau also arrested the former vice-Chancellor of the University of Kibungo for alleged nepotism and mismanagement of the university’s finances.

Cases of plagiarism at Rwandan universities have decreased. Students are required to submit their assignments and dissertations to the anti-plagiarism software, Turnitin before submitting them for grading. An acceptable work needs to be less than 15% or the student is disqualified and cannot graduate.

Following last month’s report by Transparency International, which ranked Rwanda as the fourth least corrupt country in Africa, The New Times spoke to the country’s Chief Ombudsman to make sense of current efforts against corruption. She says Rwanda can do more to fight corruption, starting by educating those who are still young by including values of integrity on the curriculum for primary schools. Teaching the right values to young people is key in fighting against corruption and it is in line with the country’s anti-graft policy.