With this year’s National Leadership Retreat around the corner, one key issue that has persistently come up during previous editions and other similar gatherings has reared its ugly head once again. Or worse still, the problem may never have gone away in the first place. The elephant in the room is the lack of or poor coordination among different government officials and departments. President Kagame has in recent past taken it upon himself to repeatedly remind public officials at all levels of leadership of the importance of coordination amongst themselves if they are to deliver on the set development goals. Yet, if a recent report by the Senatorial Standing Committee on Economic Development and Finance is anything to go by, officials are yet to muster the art of coordination, at least on development matters. According to the senators’ findings, there are glaring loopholes in the implementation of urban master plans in districts, with officials giving contradictory directives on planned activities for specific areas. For example, it was established that representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture and Local Government contradicted one another on which areas were designated for agricultural activities, such as terraces, and which ones were reserved for human settlement. In some cases, district officials were found to have unilaterally extended the boundaries of urban centres in a bid to expand local tax base, which has not only created confusion among members of the public but has also resulted in cases where fertile lands that would have been ideal for farming have ended up serving other purposes. While it’s absolutely normal for authorities to revise master plans as a result of changing dynamics, this must be done with the involvement of the other stakeholders that have a stake in the implementation of the plan, especially where it is likely to affect the entire planning of the area in question. As the country gears up for the next generation development blueprint, it’s critical that public officials – both at the central and grassroots level – coordinate their activities to maximise resources and accelerate growth, and avoid duplication, contradiction or missing targets. online@newtimesrwanda.com
