In the context of the training sessions organized by Rwanda Association of Local Government Authorities (RALGA) on Citizen-Centered leadership, with support from the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) through the Decentralization and Good Governance (DGG) program, members of Sector and Cell council bureaus in Kicukiro district and their respective executive secretaries attended a two day training session. The training took place at La Palisse Hotel located in Nyandungu, City of Kigali on 19th and 20th October 2018.
During the highly participatory sessions, participants assessed themselves as well as their working environment and came up with strategic orientations to address the identified issues.
Factual and participatory planning
One of the aspects participants agreed upon during the discussions was that there was still need to improve the mechanisms to collect accurate and updated information about their entities and citizens to be able to develop plans of action which will address real issues.
To be able to do so, participants committed to make more efforts to engage the citizens in the planning process at Village and Cell level, including those who do not attend the forums established for citizens direct participation such as the monthly community work (Umuganda), community assemblies (Inteko z’abaturage) and parents’ evenings (Umugoroba w’Ababyeyi).
Timely information sharing and feedback
Another issue affecting performance identified was the failure for some entities to report regularly and in a timely manner to the superior level. However, some local authorities were also blamed for not providing feedback on the information received from lower levels.
To address the identified issues, leaders at Cell level committed that they will from now on comply with the reporting requirements as per the laws regulating local government. On their side, leaders at Sector and District level committed to take quick and appropriate decisions on any request from lower levels, but most importantly, to provide feedback in a timely manner.
Collaboration and team work
In general, participants highlighted the fact that to be able to deliver in the very demanding decentralization context, local leaders at all levels need to collaborate and to work as a team. This implies that entities at low and high levels need complementarity. At the same level, local leaders need to work as a team, including sharing information and delegating powers where necessary to be able to satisfy the numerous demands from various stakeholders, starting from citizens, but also including development partners and central government institutions.
Substantial incentives for best performers
In her interventions, the Mayor of Kicukiro district, Dr. Jeanne Nyirahabimana commended Cell and Sector leaders for their commitment to not only implement the skills acquired during the training but also to improve their performance. She pledged consequent awards for the best performers and requested her team to plan for substantial awards on top of the usual symbolic recognition. However, she made clear that to qualify for the awards, one would have to address issues such as those affecting human security in the district.