The 14th National Leadership Retreat is expected to evaluate how far the government has gone in implementing Vision 2020 as well as laying strategies for the recently adopted Vision 2050, according to Stella Ford Mugabo, the Minister in charge of Cabinet Affairs.

Mugabo was addressing a post-cabinet news briefing, yesterday, in Kigali.

She explained that this year’s retreat will take more days than the previous retreats because issues at hand require more time to enable leaders to come up with concrete resolutions to drive the nation to the next level.

The leadership retreat will run from February 25 through March 1, at the Rwanda Defence Forces Combat Training Centre in Gabiro, in Eastern Province’s Gatsibo District. However, leaders will arrive in Gabiro a day before and leave a day after the retreat, according to Mugabo.

"The longer time (scheduled for this year’s national leadership retreat) is to allow participants reflect on what we have been doing. We are concluding the Seven-Year Government Programme and we are going to start another phase, we are coming close to the end of Vision 2020 but also we are looking at Vision 2050,” she said.

"We are dedicating more days because we are having a broader perspective on implementation of several blueprints, including the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2),” she said.

At least 250 high-ranking leaders are expected to take part in the annual Leadership Retreat. Beyond senior government officials, the retreat will attract invited members of civil society, researchers and legislators, among others. 

Last year’s retreat adopted 14 resolutions, and by by January, at least 75 per cent of the resolutions had been implemented, according to officials.

"As far as the implementation of the 13th National Leadership Retreat resolutions is concerned, by last month, when we had a meeting of leaders chaired by the Prime Minister, about 75 per cent of the resolutions were in green, about three resolutions were in yellow, we didn’t have anything in red,” she said.

"Between now and when the retreat opens we expect that the implementation rate would be around 95 per cent. The Prime Minister will give a final report on the implementation of the previous resolutions, on the first day of the retreat,” Mugabo noted.

Other major topics to be discussed in the week-long retreat, include how to further improve service delivery especially on social welfare programmes, how to revamp the country’s manufacturing sector, how to drive national financial sustainability programmes, energy, education, sustainable agriculture, urbanisation, planned settlement and how to fast-track the secondary cities agenda, among others.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw