The local governance system has undergone positive changes since 1994 when the Government of National Unity took over power in Rwanda. The government has instituted democratic changes in the structure and functioning of local government through decentralisation. Since 2000 when the decentralisation policy was launched, Rwanda has evolved a model of local governance that has come to be emulated by its neighbouring countries. Since 2000, when the Local Government Act affected the decentralised structures of local government, some changes have occurred, challenges have emerged and constraints have been experienced in the implementation of the policy of decentralisation. Methodology used in the impact assessment study The researcher administered questionnaires, conducted interviews and documentary analysis. The assessment covered (3) three districts which were purposively selected on the basis of criteria that were considered sufficiently representative and based on the rationale of the study. Key findings of the study The study established that the restructuring exercise streamlined the structures of local governments, aligned mandates to the structures, and graded jobs in line with responsibilities. These reforms have improved the performance of the local governments. Despite notable improvements, the study established that there were still gaps in the local government system that needed to be addressed. These included: i. There is a big skills gap in most local governments. Some positions in local government are not filled due to inadequate resources. ii. Some local governments are finding it difficult to attract qualified and competent personnel to take up jobs at technical and managerial levels. iii. Local government lack attractive working environments. iv. There are limited career growth opportunities in local government service. xiv v. There is low local revenue. This has imposed limitations to accountability, supervision and monitoring of local government programmes. vi. Professional staff in local government is not adequately facilitated to do their work efficiently and effectively. vii. The existing capacity building programmes contribute marginally to career growth of individual staff members. viii. New reform programmes for improving service delivery such as results oriented management (ROM) and fiscal decentralisation strategy (FDS) have been rolled out but are not yet utilised in some of the local governments.

This study investigated the capacity building for developmental local government with reference to the Kicukiro District of Rwanda. Its aim was to examine the contribution of capacity-building interventions towards a developmental local government and at the same time investigate factors that hinder their implementation in Kicukiro district. The study provides an extensive historical background on local government in Rwa-nda with a particular focus on its policy, legal and institutional framework, whereby the developmental local government environment has been analysed. Furthermore, this study explores the theoretical framework of capacity building in general, and in this regard particular emphasis was given to capacity building in relation to developmental local government. The study also argued that without appropriate capacity it would be difficult for the district to fulfil its developmental mandate. This research followed both qualitative and quantitative approaches of study. It involved a survey in which a structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used as data gathering instruments. Through data analysis, findings of the study have shed light on the fact that capacity building constitutes an indispensable mechanism for local government to achieve its developmental mandate, despite challenges associated with the process of capacity building. The study found that the Kicukiro district has made a significant progress towards the implementation of capacity-building interventions despite the fact that these interventions are still fragmented, uncoordinated and still supply-driven. Furthermore, the study revealed that the capacities already built generated considerable impetus that contributed to socio-economic development within the Kicukiro district. The study also found that despite the progress made in both capacity building and development in Kicukiro district, there are capacity gaps and factors which are undermining further progress in this regard. Therefore, the study recommends, among others, an effective co-ordination of capacity-building interventions in order to avoid duplication and fragmentation of capacity-building efforts.

Thesis (MPA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A community-centred development which can be qualified as authentic development leads to the sustainability of the community. This must be understood as a process of economic, political and social change springing from the efforts of people themselves working for the benefit of themselves, their families and, hopefully, their communities, which process can be referred to as a self-reliant participatory development. This calls for active mutual self-help among people working together in their common struggle, at the grassroots level, to deal with their common problems. It is also acknowledged that if development efforts are to be effective, then the participation of problem-affected groups is necessary, with support from local government, NGO’s, local resource people and donors, willing to live and work among them. The success of this self-reliant participatory development approach accompanied by inner conviction, a shared understanding, and awareness or consciousness-awakening that people have of their common problems, and finding ways of mobilising resources, planning, implementing and eventually controlling their own development activities. Against this background, however, the roles of government as well as of NGOs, in fighting against poverty and social transformation that leads to the development of the community, remain indispensable. Government roles should be enabling and supportive, and create a space for communities’ needs. This study aimed to explore the decentralisation process to boost the community efforts towards participation in local development management. As the public participation processes in local government do not yield the outcomes that reveal a fully optimised process, the role of the community developer is merely to create an environment of freedom within which the latent development potential of the community can bloom (Schutte, 2000:5). This Rwandan case study offers an overview of its decentralisation and community development policies. The literature review provides the definitions of key concepts regarding the topic, in both the international context as well as Rwandan context. It discusses the topic and highlights definition, objective, different forms of decentralisation, community development and its delivery framework. The findings show that community development depends on the political will that establishes effective and favourable institutions to sustain the self-reliance of the community as well as the awareness of the community of its daily problems and its participation in planning and implementing solutions. The SWOT analysis provides a situation from which to adopt new alternatives and strengthen the existing one in order to face challenges. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gemeenskapgesentreerde ontwikkeling wat kwalifiseer as oorspronklike ontwikkeling, lei tot die volhoudbaarheid van die gemeenskap. Dit moet gesien word as ‘n proses van ekonomiese, politieke en sosiale verandering wat sy oorsprong het in die pogings van die mense self, wat werk tot voordeel van hulself, hulle gesinne, en hopelik hulle gemeenskappe. Hierdie proses kan na verwys word as selfstandige deelnemende ontwikkeling. Dit vereis aktiewe, onderlinge selfhulp waar mense saamwerk en saamstreef op voetsoolvlak, om hulle gemeenskaplike probleme te oorkom. Daar word ook erken dat om doeltreffend te wees, die deelname van die voordeeltrekkers nodig is, met die ondersteuning van plaaslike regering, Nie-Regerings Organisasies (NGOs), plaaslike kundiges en donateure wat gewillig is om tussen die mense te woon en te werk. Om die sukses van hierdie deelnemende ontwikkelingsbenadering te verseker, moet dit gesteun word deur innerlike oortuiging, ‘n gesamentlike siening, en die bewuswording van die mense self van hulle gesamentlike probleme. Hulle moet maniere vind om hulle hulpbronne te mobiliseer, om te beplan, die planne te implementeer en uiteindelik om hulle eie ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite te beheer. Teen hierdie agtergrond, egter, is die rolle van die regering en die nie-regerings organisasies in die stryd teen armoede onontbeerlik en is dit nodig om sosiale transformasie wat kan lei tot die ontwikkeling van die gemeenskap, te bewerkstellig. Die regering se rol is om die gemeenskap te bekwaam en te ondersteun, en om spasie te skep vir die vervulling van die gemeenskap se behoeftes. In hierdie studie word die desentralisasieproses wat die gemeenskap se pogings tot deelname in plaaslike bestuur bevorder, ondersoek. Aangesien die uitkomste van publieke deelname prosesse in plaaslike regering nog nie ten volle geoptimaliseer is nie, moet die gemeenskapontwikkelaar ‘n omgewing skep waarin die latente ontwikkelingspotensiaal van die gemeenskap vryelik kan blom (Schutte, 2000:5). Hierdie Rwandese gevallestudie bied ‘n oorsig van die desentralisasie en gemeenskapsontwikkeling beleid in Rwanda. Definisies van sleutelkonsepte rakende die onderwerp, in beide die internasionale konteks en die Rwandese konteks word in die literatuuroorsig verskaf. Die onderwerp word bespreek en die definisie, doelwit, verskillende vorme van desentralisasie, gemeenskapontwikkeling en die raamwerk waarbinne dit moet plaasvind, word beklemtoon. Die bevindinge toon dat gemeenskapsontwikkeling afhang van die politieke wil om doeltreffende instansies te skep vir gemeenskappe wat op hulleself kan steun en wat bewus is van hulle daaglikse probleme asook hoe hulle moet deelneem in die beplanning en implementering van oplossings. Die SWOT ontleding verskaf ‘n situasie waaruit nuwe oplossings kan ontstaan en bestaande oplossings versterk kan word, om sodoende nuwe uitdagings tegemoet te gaan.

This thesis analyses the policy and traditional practice of umuganda, which is a Rwandan word for community work. Many authors have looked at umuganda, mainly focusing on the period from 1973 until the 1994 genocide - something which has fostered a lot of negativity regarding the essence and practice of umuganda. Rather than discussing umuganda for a specific period, a wide look at its origins until the present day is more informative. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on the nature and the evolution of umuganda in Rwanda, thereby deepening the discussion about its future prospects. The main purpose of the thesis is to investigate how to enhance the efficiency of the policy and practice of umuganda in fostering development and peace in Rwanda. The study focuses on how the practice of umuganda has been understood and implemented throughout the historical period of Rwanda, namely, the pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial periods until the genocide and then the post-genocide period. The discussion leads to a more detailed empirical study of how the policy is understood and practised in two geographical settings: one urban, in Kigali City, and the other rural, in Western Province. This thesis identifies the major transformation of the philosophy, organisation and purpose of umuganda throughout the four historical periods. It specifically highlights that despite the decentralisation of political and administration structures, the management of umuganda has remained hierarchical. This has resulted in the government takeover of umuganda while local people distance themselves from its practice. The thesis notes that, even though umuganda practice is regarded as beneficial for public and political interest, little benefit is seen for individuals in their communities. This thesis attempts to shed more light on how umuganda could be in harmony with the principles of participation, development and community development. It argues that, even though cultural practises are sometimes seen as backward, transforming umuganda to be managed by local communities could contribute to either a traditional sense of socio-economic well-being or even to modern development strategies. The thesis investigates the potential for the policy and practice of umuganda to empower the poor in the community, thereby helping national development. The recommendation is that umuganda be regarded as a local community initiative. Its practice should be organised in a way that responds to the immediate need of the people, its initial philosophy. This in turn would help the government to address the causes of poverty, division and other kind of harm to society. With efficient implementation and regulation of umuganda, a substantial part of service delivery to the community could be provided by the people themselves, while the government could intervene only in difficult situations. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.