Local Government Minister, James Musoni, has urged local leaders to improve service delivery and put more emphasis on good governance, ahead of the third phase of the implementation of the decentralization policy.

In a statement read on his behalf at a validation workshop organized by the Rwanda Government Advisory Council (RGAC), Musoni said good governance was key to the implementation of decentralization policies.

"All leaders should be concerned with how land is utilized; whether it is being utilized in a manner that accumulates money through business, or being wasted,” he said.

"Then through improving governance for production, we can easily support strategies that improve land utilization, for example, by enhancing the work of small and medium enterprises.”

At the workshop held in Kigali, the Executive Secretary of RGAC, Anastase Shyaka, stressed the role of governance in the development process.

"There is a close relationship between good governance and economic development; therefore  RGAC desires to influence several fields such as the corporate, government and private institutions to play a major role in enhancing economic growth in Rwanda,” Shyaka said.

"Governance for production” can be interpreted as governance where output is measured in terms of income, poverty reduction, productivity and economic performance of the population, he added.

RGAC is a body charged with developing a concept paper on governance for production and development through policy formulation and implementation.

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