On Monday, May 23, the City of Kigali tweeted: “tomorrow 24/05/2016 there will be a press conference at City Hall from 10:30AM on upcoming Car Free Day, construction… media invited.” According to media reports, the upcoming car-free-day in question is scheduled for this Sunday, May 29, where no vehicles will be allowed along the route connecting the Car-Free-Zone to city roundabout in the Central Business District through Sopetrad-Kimihurura-Gishushu to Stade Amahoro. In view of this, several roads including KN4 Avenue, KN3 Road, KN5 Road, KG11 Avenue, and KG17 Avenue will be inaccessible by vehicles from 7am to noon. Instead, pedestrians and cyclists will be encouraged to use the cut-off roads. Are there good reasons behind all this? Most definitely! In fact, following results from the 2015 Demographic and Health Survey conducted by Rwanda Biomedical Centre, indications are that non-communicable diseases among Kigali residents are on the increase. It is, therefore, easy to see why City authorities are keen to encourage everyone to walk, jog, run or cycle as regularly as possible. According to City Mayor, Monique Mukaruliza,the car-free-day is an initiative aimed at encouraging “healthy lifestyle for the residents of Kigali.” The City Mayor added that: “authorities have introduced mass sports and exercises, to encourage people to walk, jog as well as ride bicycles. It is in this context that we have introduced a monthly car-free-day, and this month it will happen on May 29.” Also, I should add that the idea of encouraging walking, running, or cycling is a splendid one when you consider that non-communicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease are known to be common among people who have a poor diet, are overweight, tend to drink too much alcohol, and do not exercise as regularly as they should. The World Health Organisation also notes that every year, up to 38 million people are killed by non-communicable related diseases. That being said, after learning about the post-haste nature of the Car-Free-Day policy, I am not entirely convinced that City authorities understand the necessity of holding public consultations before policies are implemented. Take, for example, the car-free-zone policy implemented not long ago; in spite of the potential benefits attached to the policy, when you examine the steps between problem identification, identification of policy options, to selection and implementation, you soon discover that either City authorities have got everything figured out, or simply less attention is paid towards the importance of consulting the public about proposed policies that actually impact on their lives. To illustrate, in my opinion, Monday’s news conference should not have been the first time Kigali residents were told about the proposed Car-Free-Day. From the start, Kigali residents should have been directly involved in identifying the problem, proposing solutions, and finally, participating in the implementation. Public consultations play a crucial role in successful policy implementation because they are a tool to raise public awareness of the delicate balance between trading off one activity for another. What I mean by this is that, it is a lot easier and more sustainable to convince people about walking or running two miles every week if you actually involve them in direct discussions than if you do not. Running or walking is certainly good for one’s health, but to ensure sustainability, all stakeholders must be actively involved in the decision-making process; otherwise, City authorities might as well begin to plan how they will go about pulling people out of their beds to exercise. Secondly, effective consultations early on in the policy cycle play a key role in conflict prevention. You see, in some circumstances, conflicts and disagreements are all but inevitable. Some businesses, for instance, may have valid reasons as to why it is entirely inconvenient to close X Avenue or Y Road even on a day like a Sunday. Road closures may lead to possible loss of revenue for some outlets. Effective consultations ensure that such pitfalls are avoided at an early stage, and also provide enough time for those affected to find alternative solutions. Third and equally as important, public consultations ensure that the public fully understand the proposed policy and its benefits. Actual public participation helps authorities to reach a broad public support for the final plan and reduce any public anxiety in the execution phase of the policy. In contrast, late or inefficient public consultations lead to anxiety among some, and unnecessary opposition among others. In the end, City authorities need to recognise the five key stages of public consultation; inform, consult, involve, collaborate, and empower. Informing the public can help them to provide balanced and objective information to assist the public in understanding the problem, alternatives, opportunities, and solutions. Consulting, on the other hand, helps gather public feedback on analysis, alternatives, and decisions. Likewise, involvement helps authorities to work directly with the public throughout the policy process to ensure that public concerns and ambitions are consistently understood. The stage of collaboration in many ways helps authorities to partner with the public each step of the way, including the identification of the best possible solution. Finally, everything comes down to empowering citizens. As a matter of fact, when public consultations are done properly the result is that final decisions can be viewed as public-oriented rather than installed, hence; decision-making in the hands of the public. On balance, effective public consultations give the public an opportunity to influence decisions from the outset while also defusing unnecessary anxiety to particular policies that are new or haven’t been tried and tested before. If the public is involved in the full decision making process, their concerns may be met early on in the planning process when changes are easier to make, rather than late in the process when even smallest of changes may cost both time and taxpayer’s money. Sometimes, even if the public does not agree entirely with the decision, they are more likely to understand and thus participate if they are involved from day one. Junior.mutabazi@yahoo.co.uk
