From 23rd to 25th September 2019 at Saint André Hotel in Kabgayi in Muhanga District, 163 local leaders from Gisaga District attended a two-day training session on “Empowering Local Councilors in promoting Accountable Governance and Citizen Participation”. The training session has been organized in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) and support from the German Cooperation agency (GIZ) through the Decentralization and Good Governance (DGG) project. Beneficiaries of the training sessions included all Sector & Cell Executive Secretaries, Chairpersons of Cell Councils and members of the Sector Council Bureaus. The closing ceremony was officiated by the Mayor of Gisagara District, Cllr. Jérôme Rutaburingoga, alongside RALGA’s Secretary General, Mr. Ladislas Ngendahimana. It was an opportunity to assess the training as well as devising strategies for the implementation of the outcomes.
Basing on the participants’ presentations, Ms. Innocente Murasi and Mr. Faustin Serubanza, both RALGA staff summarized the key achievements of the training session as facilitators. Among other things, participants committed to train their colleagues at work on the law governing decentralized entities. They also committed to gather accurate and updated data to inform plans and decisions, to timely and regularly avail statutory reports with copy to the district, and to make regular visits to constituencies to engage the citizens on existing issues to be addressed, but also for accountability as well as sensitizing them on their participation. Finally, they committed to improve collaboration through information sharing and team work.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Ladislas reminded to participants the purpose of the training session. He said that by preparing the training, RALGA aimed at equipping local leaders with skills for better service delivery. He reminded them the main points the training was axed on, namely the law governing decentralized entities, analysis of administrative units, self-assessment as well as assessment of working conditions and relations. He urged the local leaders to work very hard to improve the lives of Gisagara Citizens as their fate lies in the leaders’ hands.
On his side, the Mayor started his closing remarks by providing a picture of the potentialities in Gisagara district. He mentioned all factors which put Gisagara district leadership in a very good position to deliver and to transform the lives of their citizens. They include various agriculture products such as banana, infrastructure such as a good road network and energy, as well as security and achievements in Unity and Reconciliation. As a way forward, he urged participants to work hard as key actors in the achievement of the targets in the district’s performance contract. He also urged them to strive to address all human security issues identified in the quickest way possible. He finally requested the local leaders to fight corruption and to abide by the highest standards of the code of ethics.
