President Paul Kagame has cautioned parents who don’t take their children to school or fail to avail them healthcare. He also warned local leaders who don’t follow up on children’s welfare.

The Head of State was addressing newly elected local leaders; the very people supposed to implement government policies but often fall short.

One might be tempted to assume that local leaders are the only missing cogs in the government development wheel, but that is far from the case.

During the last government retreat, the President did not spare senior government officials who don’t implement programmes designed to facilitate the country’s development and improve the welfare of the Rwandan people.

One burning issue he raised then was the fate of guidelines to install fibre optic infrastructure in all new buildings, but no one seemed to have a clue. The main reasons cases like these arise is lack of ownership; thinking that someone else will do or follow up on the job.

Sometimes it is even a case of someone fearing to tread on someone else’s "turf” or usurping their powers. That kind of mentality should be banished among leaders of all walks of life; be they Cabinet Ministers or leaders at the grassroots level; everyone should be everyone’s second eye and defacto advisor.

There should be a permanent sense of pulling together for the common good and not leaving a leader – however gifted – to go it alone.

With combined efforts, targets will be achieved faster and achievements sustained.