NORTHERN PROVINCE

A few years ago, Musanze district appeared to be heading to the dogs due to insurgency. Few people would wish to associate with it. There seemed to be no hope.

But today, many people from within and beyond the country have been visiting the district to learn some development policies which have changed the socio-economic welfare of the residents. Visitors who have made study tours to the area this year include delegates from neighboring Uganda and Burundi.

Last month, Ugandan authorities from the neighboring town of Kisoro toured Musanze to learn about a wide range of issues. These include poverty eradication strategies in rural communities, ways of maintaining security and order, cleanliness and development of urban communities.

Also, a delegation of Burundi Parliamentarians visited the area to study the decentralisation policy, the process behind unity and reconciliation among Rwandans and poverty eradication strategies. 

On both occasions the visitors toured midugudu (community settlements), land and crop consolidated areas and established settlements of the vulnerable groups constructed by the community residents in the Sectors of Muhoza, Nyange and Kinigi.

The district leaders indicated that the development has been pegged on a number of factors which they showed to the visitors through Power Point programme. These include the three-year District Development Plan-DDP, and performance contracts initiated by the President.

Poverty eradication strategies also involve mobilising farmers to adopt commercial farming, the district leaders said. The district ordered farmers to uproot the traditional non productive crops to replace them with productive ones.

Rwanda’s history is a compelling factor for authorities to steer progress among the people. To this effect, local leaders have been required to sign contracts committing to achieve certain goals within a specified period, the visitors were told. The contracts are based on four pillars of economic transformation, good governance, welfare and justice.

Gacaca, a traditional local system of settling cases was mentioned as having been instrumental in not only reducing a backlog of cases that would be handled by the mainstream courts but also fostering reconciliation.

The government programme of One Cow per Family has improved health standards of children whose feeding is supplemented by milk, the milk also acts as a source of income and the waste from cows is used as manure.

According to the district leaders, involving community members in decision making on matters affecting them has ensured sustenance of projects. 

Community Policing has ensured security of person and property while community mediators locally known as abunzi have reduced cases handled by courts by effectively settling them.

"We realise that community empowerment is key to fighting poverty here and the government programmes embedded in the EDPRS can change people’s life style,’’ the Kisoro Town Clerk observed after the study tour.

It should, however, be noted that, like in other developing countries, standards of living in rural communities tend to differ from those of urban areas.

Income inequality is also remarkable. This calls for pro-poor strategies targeting the rural areas in order to achieve uniform development.

Ends