More than 500 local government officials are meeting at the Rwanda Defence Forces Combat Training Centre in Gabiro, Eastern Province for a two-day team building retreat.

The retreat, that started yesterday, is running under the theme:"Delivering as a Citizen-Centred Local Government”.

It has brought together district leaders, including all the executive secretaries of sectors in the country, district executive committee members, district executive secretaries, as well as the Mayor of the City of Kigali and his deputies.

Also in attendence are governors of provinces and their executive secretaries, top officials at the Ministry of Local Government and its affiliated agencies as well as  managers of the Rwanda Association for Local Government Authorities (Ralga).

Ladislas Ngendahimana, a communications officer  at the Ministry of Local Government, said the retreat aims at deliberating on ways to promote good governance in the country.

"The ministry has recognised the role of sectors in promoting good governance and sector executive secretaries are key to service delivery and good governance in the country,” Ngendahimana said.

Participants at the retreat will discuss, among others, service delivery, performance of local governments, issues affecting the justice sector such as judgement execution, management of abandoned property, and civil status.

 "We want to analyse all the existing challenges and devise clear strategies so as to improve service delivery,” Ngendahimana explained.

He said participants are expected to come up with concrete actions as well as operational plans to provide better service delivery and citizen-centred leadership.