IMIHIGO EVALUATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS KICKS OFF

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In order to promote transparency and accountability, the Government began exercises to assess development margins achieved by local governments during the fiscal year 2011/2012 through the performance contracts (Imihigo) they signed with the President of the Republic.

The evaluation exercise, which kicked off on June 13, will be concluded on July 14, 2012. The thereafter two days will be used for report consolidation and analysis.

The City of Kigali and every district will take two days for assessment. The first day is reserved for reports review, and the second one is exclusive for achievements field visit.

The agenda was disclosed during a press conference held on June 14 by the Minister of Local Government, Honorable James Musoni. He said that the strategies within the performance contracts serve as reference point for national and grassroots priorities which are further elaborated in district development plans.

Minister James MUSONI also said that, Imihigo have been so important that several mayors on realizing that they are far behind the targets have relinquished their posts. The Minister hastened to add that this indicates government’s commitment to development and accountability.

“Within just a year into their five-year terms, two district mayors—Francois Niyotwagira of Ngoma and Bonane Nyangezi of Gicumbi resigned recently for either lack of moral authority or poor performance, while 15 sector executive secretaries have been fired”, Minister James MUSONI disclosed.

“The annual performance of all districts, provinces and Kigali City will be evaluated by a national evaluation team composed of senior officials and experts from different institutions led by the President’s Office,” Musoni said.

The evaluation will assess the implementation progress in all priority sectors and targets indentified in the performance contracts signed between the mayors and the President.

Through Imihigo, the government will identify major challenges that impede effective implementation of targets.

By showcasing the performance and ranking of each district, the government hopes to promote competitiveness amongst districts as well as identify areas that need strengthening.

“The government through the Vision 2020 and Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) and the MDGs demonstrated strong commitment towards the development of the country. Imihigo are one strong area through which Rwanda strongly believes that true development can be achieved,” he added.

Evaluation will rank economic progress of districts first, at 60 per cent of the total evaluation, whereas, social transformation will contribute at least at 30 percent and governance will be marked at 10 per cent.

Specific targets will be reviewed such as greening and beautification of administrative offices, roll out of the 12 Year Basic Education plan, construction of new toilets and classrooms, as well as payment of teachers salaries.

Governance indicators include districts’ ability to resolve citizens’ complaints, functioning of community assemblies, the availability of performance contracts at family and sector level, as well as exemplary management of finances.

Other indicators include socio-economic integration of historically marginalized people and empowerment of people with disabilities, women and the youth.

Imihigo were introduced in 2006 by the government as a tool to accelerate implementation of priority annual programs.

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