Kaboneka to face Senate over abuse in social protection programmes

The Minister for Local Government and Social Affairs is set to appear before the Senate to explain the poor management of the government’s social protection and poverty reduction programmes of VUP, One-Cow-per-Family and Ubudehe. Senators agreed yesterday during a plenary session that Minister Francis Kaboneka should explain the dismal performance as they seek better service delivery of the government’s social protection and poverty reduction programmes. Under Rwanda’s Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP), paid work opportunities are extended to the country’s extreme poor, while citizens who are elderly or disabled are given cash handouts. Senators say the programme has been marred with corruption as some of the local officials extend the facilities to their friends or those who pay bribes. One-Cow-per-Poor-Family programme, through which the Government donates cows to citizens in extreme poverty to improve their livelihood, is another social protection scheme which needs improved management if it is to benefit Rwandans as planned, senators say. The senators say more sensitisation is needed to ensure that beneficiaries of this programme take better care of their cattle as some livestock end up dying, failing to reproduce or not producing enough milk. As for Ubudehe (social stratification) programme, the senators say it is not well-managed and expressed disappointment that the Government has not been allocating a specific budget to support the programme. Ubudehe provides a framework under which people in their communities identify their neighbours’ level of poverty or income and decide whether they should have access to government services or funds to fight poverty. The challenges in the management of the government’s social protection and poverty reduction programmes were identified by the senators during their tour of different parts of the country in January and February this year. At yesterday’s plenary session, most senators said the local government minister will be asked about what plans he has to improve the managerial skills of local officials if they are to effectively deliver on the government’s poverty alleviation programmes and lead the country to Vision 2020. “The questions to be asked are based on our observations in the field. We were able to scrutinise what is not working and we decided to pose the questions to the minister to see if there could be better ways to deliver the programmes,” said Senator Gallican Niyongana. Senator Tito Rutaremara insisted that the government’s poverty alleviation programmes are well-known and that it will be a matter of auditing how the officials in charge manage them and the challenges faced. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Kaboneka to face Senate over abuse in social protection programmes