The Minister of Local Government seems to have plugged some of the local leaders’ loopholes that help cover up poor service delivery. Many of them pass their day in unending “meetings” that hardly show any deliverables. Some local leaders never seem happy if they don’t see crowds outside their offices. For the uninitiated, it gives an impression that the government official is a very busy man. So, local government minister has sent a strong message by banning village meeting s in the morning hours. The logic is that that it is when the villagers – most of whom are farmers – are most productive. Rwanda has a labour force of about 7.2 million (aged 16-30 years) and about half of them are engaged in subsistence agriculture. So they should be spared the drama of enduring local leaders who sometimes act like village tyrants during meetings. The unending meetings should not just be cut down in the villages only, but in other parts of the workforce. They should be held only when necessary, not part of a strict timetable. This is a country that should do with less talk and more walk. While it is true that the country has made giant strides, it should get used to the culture of running where other countries are walking for it still has to cover a lot of ground. But the ministry that gave the directive about the meetings should also be in a position to gauge whether stopping morning meetings has made any difference. It might turn out that the mornings “briefings” weren’t so harmful at all. But then, in administration sometimes it depends on trial and error in order to get the right mix.
