The government renewed its commitment to improve the performance of its institutions by committing Rwf53.1 billion for accountable governance measures in the 2014/2015 budget.

Amb. Claver Gatete, Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, said the money would be directed toward improving the accountability of public agencies.

"Every year, the Auditor General’s reports show how government institutions have worked to improve on their accountability, especially in capacity building,” Gatete said in a post-budget news briefing yesterday.

He said they allocated money towards training accounting officers and auditors to enable them monitor the implementing of the budget proceeds.

The Auditor General’s report released in June noted that financial errors are still a major problem affecting public agencies. Wasteful, irregular and unauthorised spending reached Rwf3.2 billion last year and Rwf660 million in assets has been stolen from the government, among other problems.

The report also found that 68 per cent of public entities in Rwanda still have fundamental accounting, corporate governance, financial management, contract management and value-for-money issues to address.

For example in the education sector, there are still challenges in implementing policies such as One Laptop Per Child and universities are not adequately keeping track of their resources.

In agriculture, a major economic priority for the government, distributing seeds to farmers as well as tracking the productivity of those seeds is a serious challenge.

Accountable governance is one of the four major themes of the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2) and a Vision 2020 goal highlighted in the 2014/2015 budget.

Under EDPRS 2, the government aims to increase service delivery by 80 per cent, making it easier for citizens to interact with public agencies. Increasing citizen participation is also a goal of the strategy but the minister did not indicate that any of the Rwf53.1 billion accountable governance budget would be dedicated to that target.

This year’s governance budget is an increase from Rwf39.6 billion for accountable governance in the 2013/2014 budget.