Rwandans will next month return to the polls to vote for district councilors in the local government elections. The elections, which will take place from the village level, will be held in February and March. These elections are critical because grassroots leaders form the basic core of leaders to lead the country in achieving national development goals.

Achieving national development goals largely depends on the quality of leaders  in place, especially at the local government level.

This is why Rwandans should take the upcoming election of district councilors seriously. The level of enthusiasm, which Rwandans showed during their constitutional referendum vote, should be same during local government elections. 

 Citizens must exercise our right by electing the right people in the positions of district councilors. They should turn up in large numbers to vote when the time comes.

Failure to exercise this civil duty means that you are creating room for unfit people to become your leaders. 

It is also important to note that from the elected councilors, district mayors will be elected.

Therefore, the quality of councilors we vote will determine the quality of district mayors at the end of the day. As voters we should critically vet candidates to ensure that we elect leaders with the right credentials to spur the respective districts to meet their Imihigo targets.

We don’t want cases of electing leaders, who get into office and only focus on self-aggrandizement.

 Out of 30 mayors who started their five-year term in 2011, 11 left office over their failure to meet their job obligations.

Some resigned over failure to deliver on their performance contracts, poor service delivery, and mismanagement of public funds like in the case of funds meant for the community-based health insurance scheme, Mutuelle de Santé.

To avoid situations like this, let us vote wisely.