Good governance should be reflected by the wellbeing of people, said Prof. Anasthase Shyaka, Minister for Local Governance. He was addressing leaders from the districts of Southern Province on Wednesday at a meeting in Huye District called to discuss the impact of decentralisation, the role of development projects in transformation of lives, and security. “We ask all the districts to come back to priorities. We need to see prioritisation that solves people’s problems in these districts. There are wetlands that need to be exploited to give people jobs,” Shyaka said. The meeting, dubbed “delivery forum”, brought together leaders from the five districts of Southern Province; Huye, Gisagara, Nyamagabe, Nyaruguru and Nyanza. Shyaka added that a leader should ensure the policies that were put in place change people’s lives. “All projects should be impactful. When you face challenges, reach out to us for help, but the problems have to be solved in good time,” he said, addressing the local leaders, from district to the village level. District mayors at the meeting presented reports on different aspects of lives of people, from health service and social security policies to economy, education and security. Some of the problems that were shared across districts included malnutrition, accommodation and unemployment and the minister challenged the mayors to be at the forefront of seeking solutions to these problems. Shyaka asked the leaders to work with security forces and all other stakeholders to ensure public safety, adding that more effort should be put in fighting corruption in their respective districts. He was accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Gerardine Mukeshimana, RDF Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Jean Bosco Kazura, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Felix Namuhoranye and the Governor of Southern Province, Emmanuel Gasana. Kazura urged everyone to work towards ensuring a better country for future generations, irrespective of the challenges that people may encounter. “The security forces you see here are able and willing to ensure security. They need you to join them. Maintaining security is not only for those in uniform, everyone should have a role to play,” he said. Kazura added that community night patrol, locally best known as irondo, should be improved.
