Safety and security emerged the best performer while control of corruption, transparency and accountability leapfrogged others into second best out of eight governance indicators.

This is according to Rwanda Governance Scorecard (RGS 2016), released yesterday by Rwanda Governance Board (RGB).

The two indicators scored 92.62 per cent and 86.56 per cent, respectively.

The fourth edition of the Governance Scorecard also indicates that rule of law is the all-time best performer with a cumulative improvement rate of 11.97 per cent for the last five years.

Quality of service delivery (72.93 per cent), investing in human capital (74.88 per cent), and citizen participation and inclusiveness (76.48 per cent) are among the least performers, according to the index.

The scorecard is an independent national index that assesses governance in the country. It is designed to measure and evaluate state of governance in the country and offer recommendations going forward.

The index employs eight indicators to assess policy and social reforms through identifying challenges and providing recommendations.

They include rule of law, political rights and civil liberties, participation and inclusiveness, safety and security, investments in human and social development, corruption, transparency and accountability, and quality service delivery.

The publication indicates that out of eight indicators, three (37.5 per cent) scored green and five (62.5 per cent) scored yellow. In comparison with the previous edition, there is a slight decrease in performance of indicators because the RGS 2014 had six indicators in green while two were in yellow.

Bar raised

While presenting the findings, Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the chief executive of Rwanda Governance Board, said this can be attributed to the slight adjustment in scoring methods. In the RGS 2016, indicators start to score green from 80 per cent up from 75 per cent in the 2014.

The ranking bar has been raised up for the RGS 2016 compared to the previous editions. Colour rankings are attributed to the performance of indicators as follows.

Green starts from 80 per cent upwards; Yellow from 60 per cent to 79.9 per cent; Amber from 40 per cent to 59.9 per cent and Red from 0 to 39.9. The change is explained by the increasing of the expectation of indicators’ performance.

To the least performers, Shyaka said: "There’s a need for these areas to be looked in and strategies to be drafted to improve their performance.”

Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi, while presiding over the launch of the scorecard, noted that the index had become a governance mirror that scientifically describes the governance performance helping leaders to better understand the state of governance, and what needs to be done to achieve better results.

"Indeed, this score is not different from the 2015 Gallup Global Law and Order Report that named Rwanda (with 85 per cent) among the few countries in the world where people feel safe walking home alone at night,” Murekezi said.

"This means that our security organs are doing a great job.”

On the second best performing indicator – control of corruption and accountability –, which scored 86.56 per cent, the premier said the performance also reflected the recent rating in the Corruption Perception Index, which was released last week by Transparency International, which ranked Rwanda third least corrupt country in Africa.

Going forward

The remaining five indicators; rule of law, participation and inclusiveness, economic and corporate governance, investing in human and social development, and quality service delivery, which didn’t perform well compared to other indicators, Murekezi said, concerned institutions should focus on the required improvements.

Quality service delivery, at 72.93 per cent, remains the least performing indicator for the fourth time in a row.

"As you are aware, last year’s National Dialogue Council (Umushyikirano) resolved that concrete steps must be taken in the public and private sector to pave way for drastic improvements, Murekezi said.

"We can’t afford to tolerate a culture of poor service delivery as we aim to be a modern, service-based economy,” he added.

The premier said the Government was going to "double its efforts” in ensuring that service in social sector and in economic sector are well delivered, since the socio-economic transformation of the country as highlighted in Vision 2020 relies heavily on a strong service sector.

"I, therefore, urge all institutions, public and private, as well as civil society and all Rwandans, to consider service delivery as a top priority,” Murekezi added.

To improve service delivery, Murekezi said, there was need to change individual mindset.

He hailed One UN for its continued collaboration with the Government to further promote good governance for the citizens.

According to Police spokesperson Theos Badege, the success of safety and security indicator (a sector that is served by Police and Rwanda Defence Forces), is due to two strong pillars; good leadership and discipline spearheaded by committed forces and collaborative members of the public.

"Of course, we know we are not where we want to be, but we will keep improving to be the best we can,” Badege said.

Eric Mahoro, the programme director at Never Again Rwanda, a civil society organisation, said their impression about the scoredcard was twofold.

"All the indicators and sub-indicators are really impressive and it is really important that it is in place. But there are some areas that need improvement such as service delivery and citizen participation on the government’s pro-poor programmes. Citizen participation in the district planning is at a mediocre level,” Mahoro said.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw