View Video | Voices from the Rwanda Tribunal

Optatus Nchimbi
speaks on ...

the issue of nepotism in the ICTR

Transcript0:00
In fact in most cases, there is this called – how do you put it – nepotism. The issue of nepotism is very rampa-, rampant here. Nepotism is very rampant. It’s often.
0:18
John McKay: Do you, do you draw any relation, do you, do you think it’s, that nepotism is related to the question of the country of origin?
0:25
Integrity. In-, integrity.
0:27
JM: Integrity.
0:27
Yeah.
0:28
JM: Tell me about that, why is it integrity?
0:30
Because if somebody has integrity, you cannot do such things which are not acceptable. I cannot just give you offer because I know you, not because of your qualification. You have two person, one with high qualification, the second with less qualification. But this person with less qu-, qualification is from your country. You want to give him a favor-, a favor; favoritism.
0:55
You want to favor this one because he’s from your country; at the expense of the quality of the work.
1:01
JM: And is this a problem that you have seen here at ICTR in your time?
1:05
Yeah, we have seen it here. In fact . . .
1:09
JM: (_____) tell me more about that?
1:09
. . . in fact it was even raised by the previous administration of the staff association in New York to find out exactly why. Why this exists. Why are we not part of the secretariat? So the reason was very simple that your registrar refused to allow all recruitment to be done in New York headquarters.
1:28
Because the delegation of authority was given that he can employ, recruit whoever he wants from here based on the qualification. But now w-, when it’s come to appli-, applicability, it’s different. They are not following the, the proper rules.