On Thursday 22nd November 2018, the Rwanda Association of Local Government Authorities (RALGA) started a two day training session for representatives of Cell Councillors and Village Executive Committee members from Mugesera and Remera Sectors in Ngoma District. The training session aimed at imparting skills to participants on their roles and responsibilities, and was in the context of the “Deepening Accountable Local Governance in Rwanda-DALGOR” pilot project funded by the European Union, and was facilitated by Ms Solange MUKASONGA, former Mayor of Nyarugenge District. The project operates in 5 districts, namely Gasabo in the City of Kigali, Burera in the Northern Province, Nyamasheke in the Western Province, Nyamagabe in the Southern Province and Ngoma in the Eastern Province.
Need based training sessions
As highlighted by Ms Venantie Nyiransabimana, RALGA’s staff in charge of local governance who coordinates DALGOR project, the training sessions were in response to needs identified during previous phases of the project. The phases include studies on “Dynamics of direct citizen participation in Rwandan local governance” and the “State of elected local councillors & constituency interactions in Rwanda : implications for accountable local governance”, as well as subsequent policy dialogues to discuss the outcomes of the studies with the project’s beneficiaries.
One of the key outcomes was that a good number of local leaders at Village and Cell level did not know their roles and responsibilities. As a solution to the situation, RALGA developed a summarized booklet on the roles and responsibilities of Cell Councilors and Village Executive Committee members basing on the legal framework. It is the content of the booklets that is being used for the training sessions.
Beneficiaries committed to make good use of the project’s outcomes
While providing their feedback on the training session and on the project in general, participants expressed high level of satisfaction. They committed to improve service delivery through better participatory planning, teamwork spirit during implementation phase, as well as consistent and timely reporting, now that their roles and responsibilities were clear to them. In addition, they committed to train their colleagues who did not attend the training sessions using the availed booklets.
In his closing remarks, the Mayor of Ngoma District, Mr. Aphrodise NAMBAJE said that the impact of DALGOR project in the beneficiary Sectors of Mugesera and Remera was very noticeable considering the improvement in good governance compared to the period prior to the project.
Special groups expressed need for particular attention
The representatives of people with disabilities, youth and women who also attended the training session said that the groups they represent needed particular training sessions on their roles and responsibilities for more efficiency. It was highlighted that the mentioned groups play a limited role in their constituencies as they are not well organized.
