Rwanda: the Irembo government services and payments platform

What Irembo is and who runs it

A World Bank blog from February 2017 describes Irembo as a government-wide service and payments platform. It says RwandaOnline, founded by local entrepreneurs, won a 25-year PPP concession to build and operate it using a build-operate-transfer model ¹. It says RwandaOnline has a technology agreement with Crimson Logic of Singapore ¹.

An undated New Times article hosted by the Ministry of ICT and Innovation says Rwanda's plan led to a public-private partnership and calls RwandaOnline the technology company behind the portal. It quotes RwandaOnline acting chief executive Faith Keza saying the company works with the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Justice and the Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA) ².

The provider's own site says it is the digital transformation partner of more than 20 public agencies. It lists IremboGov for public services, IremboPay for payments and a network of more than 4,000 agents ⁵. This is a provider page.

Start date and legal basis

The World Bank blog gives 2015 as the launch year, with more than 40 online services at launch ¹. KT Press reporter Dan Ngabonziza wrote in January 2019 that the Rwanda Development Board signed a 25-year contract with Rwanda Online in July 2015 to design and operate Irembo ³.

The sources opened for this article describe the concession and contract. They do not cite a specific law or regulation that makes Irembo the required channel for government fees.

How a citizen pays

Users register with a national ID and a mobile phone number. They can pay by credit card or mobile money account ¹. About 45 percent of transactions in early 2017 were completed on phones ¹. The provider says IremboGov is reachable on the web and by USSD ⁵.

Citizens who cannot use the platform themselves can go to agents. KT Press reported in 2019 that private agents handle many transactions and that some customers reported being overcharged ³. Michel Nkurunziza of The New Times reported on 11 February 2019 that agents handling Mutuelle de Sante premium payments were set to get higher commission fees ⁶.

Fees and how money reaches government

The World Bank blog says Irembo normally collects around US$1 per transaction it facilitates. It does not say how that fee is shared ¹. KT Press reported service prices of Rwf500 each for a birth certificate, a national ID and a marriage certificate, and Rwf50,000 paid through Irembo by people on a driving licence waiting list ³. These prices date from 2019.

KT Press reported in 2019 that the government earns revenue from the portal, but that neither Rwanda Online nor the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) would disclose the total ³.

Audit and parliamentary findings

At a Public Accounts Committee hearing on 23 September 2020, the Office of the Auditor General reported that about US$408,486 in national park permit payments from August 2018 to January 2019 was not recorded in the Rwanda Development Board's accounts. It reported that US$365,125 in tourism receipts reached the board's account 121 to 695 days late, as reported by Daniel Sabiiti of KT Press ⁴.

Tourism receipts normally pass through the Irembo payment system. Officials at the hearing said the suspect in the missing permit payments was an Irembo official with access to the board's account passwords and codes, who was later arrested and awaited court proceedings. Assistant Auditor General Steven Safari blamed negligence at the board for letting the losses grow ⁴. Irembo chief executive Faith Keza said Irembo had no access to the board's accounts and accepted responsibility only for the sales side ⁴. Board vice chairperson Evelyn Kamagaju said the missing payments were detected late and that monitoring had weaknesses. Committee chairman Valens Muhakwa ordered the board to give periodic updates, and Parliament instructed it to carry out an internal audit of the 2018/19 financial year ⁴.