Municipal and town council leaders from Uganda have been in Kigali since Sunday to learn best practices in urban planning and management.

Under their umbrella body, the Urban Authorities Association of Uganda (UAAU), the 380 Ugandans visited several sites in the city and yesterday met the Mayor, Fidele Ndayisaba, for insights on how the City of Kigali (CoK) achieved the current development.

The visitors asked the Mayor about the contribution of various national programmes such as the monthly community work, Umuganda, women empowerment and performance contracts (Imihigo) to the development of the city.

"Rwanda is a country with well functioning institutions and zero tolerance to corruption. How have you managed to curb corruption? Is it because of performance contracts?” asked Charles Ssebyala, from Luwero Town Council.

Annah Natukunda from Lira municipality, northern Uganda, sought to know how CoK had managed to keep cattle out of the city.

"We have moved around Kigali and we have not seen any animals, yet yours is a community known for cattle keeping. How have you managed to keep away cattle from the streets?” she asked.

Ndayisaba said accountable leadership at all governance levels had made Rwanda what it is today.

"Good governance practices, such as, decentralisation, and Imihigo, have helped improve service delivery in the country. Having come out of Genocide 20 years ago, we felt that without efficient service delivery, we would not survive,” Ndayisaba said.

Is Kigali the Cleanest City in Africa? Source: CCTV Africa/YouTube

The Ugandans visited the Kigali Special Economic Zone, Kigali Genocide Memorial, the Presidential Palace Museum (the residence of former President Juvenal Habyarimana), and the cooperative of city commercial motorcyclists.

Johnson Muyanja, the chairperson of UAAU and the Mayor Mukono Municipality, said the visit was aimed at achieving mutual development.

"Our being here is not accidental. This is our second home,” Muyanja saidHe added: "We have seen how Kigali looks like; and we are determined to use the experience we have attained to make our towns and municipalities better.”