The government and the donor community yesterday signed a deal in Kigali that will help in the capacity building of Rwanda’s local administration. The agreement was signed on behalf of the Rwandan government by ministers Protais Musoni of Local Government, and James Musoni of Finance with representatives of donor bodies in a meeting held at Hotel des Mille Collines. Donor partners who signed the deal include the governments of United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. Other institutions were the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). The agreement comes in the wake of findings and recommendations from national assessments on district capacity building needs conducted by a UK firm, Adam Smith International. The Local Government minister anticipates that the budget for the whole exercise will be over $800 million (about Frw364 billon). “We want the development partners to come along and work closely with us in implementing what the assessment study has come-up with,” he said. Among the key findings in the draft report unveiled at the same function include obstacles of knowledge dissemination and understanding of laws, policies and strategies. Others are limited consultation between the central government institutions and districts during the legal drafting process, and too many meetings which force local leaders to work under pressure. Also discovered was that personnel in the local administration had limited understanding of the meaning and potential value of partnerships with other institutions, and the lack of equipment.Dr. Ann Condy from Adam Smith International recommended the establishment of a clear local government training policy as the yardstick to boost human capacity..Ends
