Scorecard: City dwellers demand better service

Authorities at the City of Kigali will have to put in more efforts to convince residents who showed little satisfaction in the City’s service delivery, according to the findings of Citizens Report Card 2016. The scorecard, published yesterday, measures citizen satisfaction on service delivery at the local level. The report helps to find gaps and elicit improvement in service delivery, according to officials. The fifth research, which is conducted annually, reached 11,000 households countrywide. The research measures citizens’ interpretation of service delivery based on government pillars of good governance, justice, social protection and economic development. At the national level, the report showed decline in satisfaction, from 71.1 per cent last year to 67.7 per cent. According to the report, Kigali city registered the lowest levels of satisfaction in different sectors compared to other provinces. A participant asks a question during the meeting about Citizens Report Card in Kigali yesterday. / Nadege Imbabazi Dr Félicien Usengumukiza, head of governance, research and monitoring at Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), said the decline in city dwellers’ satisfaction did not necessarily mean retrogress in service delivery, but rather change of mindset among the citizens. “Given their levels of literacy, the citizens in Kigali have high expectations compared to what we deliver. They are particular in assessing service delivery because most of them are educated,” Usengumukiza said. “Moreover, the citizens’ demands have changed due to the fact that their expectations are shaped by the vision and progress of country.” How they rated A comparison of the indexes for Kigali and the countryside justifies Usengumukiza’s assertion. For instance, in good governance, satisfaction is at 75.9 per cent at the national level while Kigali city’s districts of Nyarugenge, Gasabo and Kicukiro scored 68.8 per cent, 66.7 per cent and 68.4 per cent, respectively. Satisfaction in citizen participation stands at 58.9 per cent countrywide. In Kigali, Gasabo scored 49 per cent – the highest – while the other two districts had even lower ratings. Infrastructure is the only sector where Kigali comes first with Kicukiro scoring the highest percentage (79 per cent) in the country, while satisfaction at national level stands at 53.1 per cent. In services-related to social welfare, satisfaction at national level is at 61.2 per cent, while in Kigali, Nyarugenge scored 39 per cent and Gasabo and Kicukiro were even less favourable. The Mayor of the City of Kigali, Monique Mukaruliza, said citizens currently more conscious about service assessment than before, which explains the drop in satisfaction level. She said the report has showed areas to improve such as citizen participation, and promised improvement. “Given the programmes we are putting in place such as community outreach, I hope the next assessment will show different perceptions. We are going to work more closely with citizens to bridge identified gaps. This requires the involvement of citizens and all stakeholders,” she said. It was observed that the majority of people living in cities are not actively involved in government programmes. Mukaruliza called on them to change mindset and scale up their participation. “When people do not attend meetings, they do not participate in decision making and this affects participation. Citizens should change mindsets,” she said. The report also indicated high levels of trust in the presidency, parliament and security organs among the citizens editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Scorecard: City dwellers demand better service