Funding constraints and procurement challenges have delayed Kigali city's efforts towards community-funded neighbourhood road projects, Mayor Samuel Dusengiyumva has explained. ALSO READ: City sets up fund for financing neighbourhoods roads Delays in implementing neighbourhood road projects have been noted despite residents having already raised their share of the funding according to the Auditor General’s report ending June 2025. Previously, residents used to contribute 30 per cent of construction costs while the city covered the remaining 70 per cent. Under revised guidelines, both residents and the city will each contribute 50 per cent. The city faced budget constraints in providing its contribution to residents' efforts to construct neighbourhood roads. Our contribution depends on the available budget for each fiscal year. However, we have reformed the programme so that residents know when to mobilise resources and submit requests for the city's funding, Dusengiyumva said. He explained that delays also occur when contractors abandon projects, forcing the city to launch fresh tenders, a process that takes time and must fit within the government's budget cycle. The city administration has established guidelines on how neighbourhood roads are constructed, when and how residents should submit funding requests, and the responsibilities of each party,” he said, adding that the city had already met representatives of communities that had mobilised funds to explain changes in construction costs. ALSO READ: City of Kigali to build more roads: which neighbourhoods? We met representatives of the 25 communities that submitted funding requests and explained that construction costs have changed,” he noted. Residents were also informed about the order in which projects would be financed. We have allocated funding for the 25 communities that mobilised resources. We also explained which projects will be financed during the current fiscal year, and when other communities can submit funding requests, he added. Responding to concerns over rising construction costs, the mayor said the city and residents would equally share any additional expenses. ALSO READ: Inside Rwf140bn project to upgrade Kigali roads Changing contractors and defects on completed roads At least 18 neighbourhood roads, covering more than 15 kilometres, were approved under the previous cost-sharing arrangement. However, the city had to hire new contractors after the initial ones abandoned works, particularly on nine roads covering eight kilometres in Kicukiro and Nyarugenge districts. During a parliamentary session where the Mayor explained the delays, MPs questioned the city’s failure to communicate progress on several planned neighbourhood roads, including Irembo–Nyarufunzo–Mageragere, Kigali–Gakoni–Norvège, Inshuti–Mpinga ya Nyanza, Kamashashi–Mukoni–Uruhongore, Kagarama–Muyange–Rugunga, Niboye–Byimana–Mahoro, Kigarama–Indatwa, and Kagarama–Mpinga ya Nyanza. Here for example, MP Liliane Umutesi pointed out that six completed roads had not undergone final handover. We need an explanation as to why final handovers have not been completed and why residents who have already paid their contributions are not being updated, she said. ALSO READ: Communities should mobilize to tarmac neighborhood roads City Manager Stella Kabahire explained that delays in the final handover resulted from damage caused by heavy trucks. When the Auditor General carried out the audit, the final handover for roads in Gasabo had not yet taken place because trucks had damaged sections of the roads. We postponed the handover while negotiating with the contractor to rehabilitate the damaged sections first, she said. Kabahire added that although rehabilitation had not been completed by January, all 7.1 kilometres of roads in Gasabo were finally handed over in April, while provisional handovers for the remaining eight kilometres in Kicukiro and Nyarugenge were completed in May and June. The Vice Mayor in charge of Urbanisation and Infrastructure, Fulgence Dusabimana, said some contractors had abandoned projects before completion, requiring the city to appoint replacements. The City of Kigali plans to construct 100 kilometres of paved neighbourhood roads by 2029.
