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Irembo CEO Israel Bimpe
The Irembo platform has unveiled new plans to improve access to online government services following the shortfalls in reliable service provision outlined in the Auditor General's report for the 2022/2023 financial year.
According to the AG's report, the company failed to fulfill some of the terms of its contract with service provider 'CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd', resulting in complete loss of access to data on the platform and, as a result, access to Irembo's systems. I found that it was also limited (Irembo 1.0) which was then upgraded to Irembo 2.0.
In January 2014, Irembo Ltd entered into a contract with 'CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd' (a subcontractor) to implement the Irembo system to provide government services in the areas of platform design, financing, procurement, construction, operation, maintenance and transfer. did. (provides e-government services).
In 2018, by mutual consent, both parties terminated the contract, with Irembo Ltd agreeing to pay 'Crimson Logic Ltd' $11,310,356 in four stages, and 'CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd' also paying $11,310,356 to 'Crimson Logic Ltd' for the use and work of the system. agreed to provide training on Transfer all relevant information to the system within 15 days after payment of the last installment of the outstanding amount.
Irembo Ltd CEO Israel Bimpe said the company plans to pay the balance owed to CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd by November 2023 to gain full access, but that the company is also now a new shareholder in the platform. .
However, an AG audit in February found that Irembo had not paid the balance of $5,069,731, and “CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd” sent “IremboGov 1.0 data, source code, related documents” etc. to Irembo Ltd. It turns out he didn't. .
Bimpe asserted that the lack of visibility of IremboGov 1.0 data will not impact the public experience.
At the PAC hearing on September 12, 2023, it was revealed that many public officials are not providing Irembo services to the public and payments to the platform have not been reimbursed.
For example, inspections carried out in various departments revealed that approximately 2,568 employees claimed and paid Rwandan Francs 4,044,611 for various government services through the Irembo system from January to September 2022. However, the department (Civil Registrar) did not demand and pay it. They provided the requested service and did not refund the amount paid.
Regarding the improvement of online services, Mr. Bimpe said that initially there was a lack of trained staff, but this has been resolved, and in order to reduce service redundancy, the volume of all services was reduced before going online. and said there is a new process to test performance.
He said he was training civil servants to improve their use of the platform. Additionally, if someone pays twice, they will now be automatically refunded.
Meanwhile, Irembo CEO said they plan to increase access to Irembo services through the 'Byikorere' (Do It Yourself) campaign by having at least two focused youth volunteers in every two cells.
The campaign aims to increase confidence in digitalization among citizens who apply for government services themselves. He also revealed that the platform plans to introduce USSD services to improve access and ease of use for applicants who do not own smartphones.
