KIGALI - District Advisory Councillors from the Eastern Province, yesterday, pledged to diligently serve the people.
The councillors made the pledge at the end of a two-day retreat that was officially closed by James Musoni, the Minister of Local Government.

The Minister told the councillors that the public expects results from them.

"You have the capacity to deliver. But what we expect is your commitment to serve the people. I am pleased to hear from you that you are determined to serve the electorate,” Musoni said.

The Minister told councillors to fight corruption and other malpractices that facilitate poor service delivery.

"Councillors must help end the impasse in the Province...performance contracts must be fulfilled. How do you score 50% or 78% and rejoice...if you don’t get 100%, then you have failed,” Musoni added, saying that it is unacceptable that some districts in the Eastern Province still lag behind.

The provincial governor, Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, pointed out that District Advisory Councillors are the ‘Critical Think Tank’ of the districts and their Executive Committees.
She noted that the councillors can only perform if they dedicated enough time, to addressing the needs of communities.

Kirabo reminded the councillors that they will be judged according to the performance of their respective sectors.
The Governor further challenged the councillors to maximise revenue collections in their respective districts.

Stephen Rwamurangwa, a councillor from Ngoma District, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said the retreat was fruitful.

He said that the councillors now clearly understand their overall responsibility and are ready to deliver.

"We are volunteers in a way and actually happy to have been enlightened about our responsibilities...we promised to serve the people and that is what we are going to do, irrespective of the challenges ahead,” Rwamurangwa said.

The retreat was also attended by the business community.

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