EDITORIAL: What is ailing Gasabo District?

Something is definitely not well in Gasabo District, one of the most important among the 30. The district has had its fair share of musical chairs among its leadership for the last decade, but this would not have stood out had it not been the host of more than half the population in Kigali. This week’s surprise resignation of its entire leadership did not come as a surprise as it has had its fair share of negative publicity in the local press, and for good reasons. Its demographic divide is very interesting and could possibly explain why administering the huge territory needs a new master plan. Gasabo is home to most government administrative offices, diplomatic representations and the ivy league of society, but its outskirts also harbour some of the less privileged and development initiatives are a nightmare. Maybe juggling both layers of society makes it dizzy. The outgoing administration had been one of the longest serving ever since the previous team was restructured in 2010 for poor performance. Now that ghost is on the prowl again. For the past few years, ever since the government introduced performance benchmarks, known as performance contracts or Imihigo, Gasabo has been at the bottom of the pile, an indication that maybe it is time its administrative map was redrawn and parts of its territory ceded to other better performing neighbouring districts. Whatever action is taken by authorities in charge of local administration, a post mortem of the district’s woes is needed urgently. Otherwise the next team to be voted in might suffer the same fate and it will be back to square one again.

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EDITORIAL: What is ailing Gasabo District?