Gasamagera seeks to revamp embattled RIAM

The newly appointed Director General of Rwanda Institute of Administration and Management (RIAM), Wellars Gasamagera, has promised to make the institution self sustainable once he assumes office. RIAM is a government institution mandated to provide training to civil servants, private sector and the civil society in matters relating to science and technical know how in administration and management.It also conducts consultancies, researches in administration and management and other activities intended to enhance capacity in the same field.Gasamagera, a former senator was recently appointed by the Cabinet to head the troubled institution which made several changes in administration of several government institutions. He is waiting to be vetted by the senate before he formally represents RIAM’s interests.In an exclusive interview with The New Times Thursday evening, Gasamagera said RIAM was relying on government funds instead of sustaining itself.“Normally RIAM should be a self sufficient institution, but a number of components in the management system hindered its self-sustainability. This is one of the issues I am going to address to ensure RIAM becomes self sustainable,” he said.He stated that despite the fact that the institution generates incomes through the trainings it offers to public and private institutions, the funds are not enough to sustain it.“I will do something special to renew all the partnerships and also expand them to enable the organisation reach a level of self sustainability.”RIAM has been over the years facing institutional challenges where the administrators have been fired and arrested due to mismanagement of resources.“These are internal management issues which are quite easy to redress, and I am very confident we shall come up with proper mechanisms to avoid such mismanagement that happened in the past,” he emphasised.The institute has been involved in decentralisation process and for the time being RIAM was much more concerned with the implementation of the EDPRS in various programmes, both at the national and local levels. “We shall develop strong mechanisms by building our internal capacity and hire qualified teachers and trainers to attract more people to come and train with us,” he asserted.“We shall also make sure that the modules we provide are well prepared to attract those prospective customers who pay for the services we offer.”RIAM also partners with the Maastricht School of Management and University of Quebec School of Administration to provide Masters Degrees and Diplomas to employees in public and private administration.

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Gasamagera seeks to revamp embattled RIAM