Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi has said the government will not tolerate local leaders who don’t adequately deliver services to the people as expected.

The Premier sounded the warning call yesterday while chairing a meeting convened to discuss how to improve good governance and enforcing accountability.

Senior government officials, including ministers as well as representatives of media houses, attended the meeting.

"Ministers and local leaders should leave the comfort of their offices and go down to the field where ordinary citizens reside and address their issues,” Habumuremyi said.

He noted that during the next evaluation of Performance Contracts (Imihigo), the leaders will be also be graded based on the time they spent on the field interacting with the people.

A report compiled by Rwanda Governance Advisory Council (RGAC) indicates that service delivery is still poor.

"People should not wait for the President’s field visits to have their problems solved. It’s you ministers and others who are supposed to be petitioned and solve their problems,” he said.

 During the meeting, several ministers highlighted their plans.

The Minister of Defence, James Kabarebe, said that the armed forces will continue to collaborate and take an active part in other government programmes to fast track development.

"Our role is not only to make the country secure, but to also intervene in various programmes such as assisting in disasters,” he said.

On women empowerment, Aloisea Inyumba, the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, pointed out that her ministry was working tirelessly to promote women by easing their access to finances needed to set up income generating projects.

Ends