President Paul Kagame on Friday presided over the signing of new performance contracts with the mayors from all the thirty districts of Rwanda.
Through these Performance contracts (“Imihigo”) the Mayors detail what the respective district sets itself as targets on a number of governance, justice, economic and social indicators. The objective of Imihigo is to improve the speed and quality of execution of government programmes, thus making public agencies more effective.
Every year, the President gathers with government officials including the mayors to assess their performance. There is naming and shaming including rewarding of the best performers and signing new contracts. The best three performing districts have their mayors taking a photo with the president.
“Signing performance contracts is a very important aspect of our national life. By signing Imihigo, we commit ourselves to meet targets and reach the development Rwanda aspires to,” President Kagame said.
This year, the government officials descended down to Epic Hotel in Nyagatare district for this important Imihigo event that is highly tracked by all Rwandans via radio, Television and social media- all eager to know how their respective districts scored.
On Friday, Nyaruguru district, Huye District and Rwamagana district were announced as the best performing districts respectively.
“The three districts that were awarded best performers during the Imihigo Signing Ceremony are Nyaruguru , represented by Mayor Francois Habitegeko, Huye District , represented by Mayor Ange Sebutege and Rwamagana District , represented by Mayor Radjab Mbonyumuvunyi,” the presidency tweeted on Friday.
During the signing ceremony, President Kagame said “Imihigo means that we want to improve the way we work, so as to achieve our targets. We want to live a healthy life, to develop, and we want security. This is what Rwandans expect from us as their leaders.”
The president cautioned that he will not get tired of reminding leaders of what they need to do – it is not a waste of time. “Those at the receiving end of reminders should understand that we have no time to waste.”
In a well packaged counsel, President Kagame observed that there are challenges that are difficult to solve, and there are those that are made difficult because of lack of means. But there are also those that are easy when one has the will – to work, to work properly, to move forward.
“Sometimes it’s an issue with coordination and communication between institutions. Or people who wait for bribes to do what they ought to do. Why would you do that?” the president said.
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