Civil servants who ignore legal advice from state lawyers have cost Rwandans about Rwf3 billion in compensation, enough money to pay salaries of about 5,000 primary teachers for a year.

Minister for Justice Johnston Busingye said the compensation and court awards to individuals and companies who take the government to court are increasing.

The Rwf3 billion was lost in the year 2011/2012 within government ministries alone.

Mr Busingye said the total loss could even be higher if all government institutions like the Rwanda Development Board and Rwanda Revenue Authority calculated how much they lost in court.

Between 2007 and 2010, taxpayers lost about Rwf2.7 billion after prosecutors failed to prosecute graft cases effectively due to insufficient evidence.

Most of the cases are connected to illegal tendering, where some companies were awarded tenders illegally.

According to the minister, government lost many cases after its lawyers’ advice were ignored by some state officers.

“The advice must be followed because the Attorney General is paid to give legal advice. If he gives an advice, you must take it and when you refuse, you must give strong reasons but not just ignoring,” said Mr Busingye.

He warned government officials against ignoring his legal advice, saying such officers will take responsibility should they lose in court.

The minister directed Attorney General to keep records on officers who ignore his advice for future reference.

This week, the minister met lawyers from government institutions among them, the Rwanda Revenue Authority and Rwanda Development Board to sound an alarm over increasing compensation bill.

The minister’s warning comes days after the government announced that its officials whose actions lead to losses in court will be either sacked or surcharged.

Prime Minister’s advisor Innocent Nkurunziza last month told Rwanda Today that officials whose actions land the government in court will face disciplinary action.

READ: Rwanda premier orders salary cuts for careless staff

Mr Nkurunziza cited sacking of state officials without following procedures as a major cause of legal battles.

Currently, there are cases in court against government even after the Ministry of Justice told officials to settle them out of court.

One of such cases is where the Rwanda Transport Development Agency and JV Sebulikoko & Berco Construction, a local company, are engaged in a legal battle over a Rwf3.8 billion road construction tender the contractor claims was cancelled illegally.

READ: Rwanda taxpayers risk losing billions in road tender deal gone sour

RTDA reportedly ignored the advice of the Ministry of Justice, which was against pursuing the matter in court. The ministry said the government did not have the money to pay the contractor in case RTDA lost the case.

It’s understood, RTDA is trying to negotiate with contractor to settle the case outside the court.

Justice Minister explained said if advice by attorneys is followed properly, the money we lose can be saved. If there is a lot of coordination and communication, this can be avoided.”

“We think if we respect the rule of law, the loss could be minimised.” Legal experts say failure to prosecute some cases due to lack of sufficient evidence is partly because suspects are hurriedly taken to court before enough evidence is gathered.