Citizens’ Perceptions on the Use of E-Government as an Effective Tool to fight Corruption in Rwanda: E-government and Corruption in Rwanda

Technology has proven to be an efficient means of delivering public services and fighting corruption in recent years. Developing countries have thus started to leverage technology to increase the openness and transparency of government services and combat corruption. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of e-government in the fight against corruption, with a broader focus on how citizens perceive the likelihood of this supposed effectiveness. The study specifically investigated the relationship between access to information, increased transparency, faster government processes, and anti-corruption in Rwanda. We used the Hayes process model 4 regression analysis to examine data gathered from 253 urban and rural Rwandans. The study found a significant relationship between access to information, increased transparency and anti-corruption. However, there was no direct, significant relationship between faster government processes and anti-corruption. When mediated by citizens’ perception, we found that all the variables mentioned above were significantly related to anti-corruption. We conclude that Rwandans believe that there is a chance for a considerable reduction in corruption through the adaption of e-government. The same strategy can be used by other developing countries that wish to fight corruption effectively.