The journey towards V 2020

Rwanda is dedicated to the rights, unity and well-being of her people and will ensure the consolidation of the nation and its security. In implementing this, the vision 2020 document puts Good governance and a capable state as the first pillar. Sunday Times’ Richard Nkubito caught up with District Mayor, Paul Jules NDAMAGE to shade some light on the subject. Below are excerpts: Qn. Will you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?A: I am Paul Jules NDAMAGE, the Mayor of Kicukiro District. Qn. What’s your take on V 2020? A: To me, vision 2020 is about timing, having a target regarding economic achievement. If you don’t plan and you have no objective then you can never attain solutions to your problems. Qn. How does your office translate the vision in its day to day undertakings? A: The district is part of the local government; it is actually an organ for planning and implementation. In my area, we have the four pillars of the government and through these we have our day to day undertakings. These pillars are; Good governance; Economic development; Justice; and Social welfare. Qn. Good governance is the first pillar of the v 2020. What initiatives has your office taken its implementation? A: Firstly, we solve citizens’ problems; we have set a target to receive and find solutions to about 100 claims each month. We have also gone into decentralization whereby we have capacitated the local authorities; sectors, cells and villages, our target here is to reach every single citizen. Having given them the capacity, we also avail them with facilities. For example, all our sectors and cells have been able to construct their offices with the necessary infrastructure and office equipment including ICT equipment. We are still struggling to eradicate corruption and all forms of injustice in Kicukiro district with the help of the other state organs such as Police, office of the Ombudsman, Army and Community Policing Committees among others. The most vulnerable area is the land distribution sector and here we have given them a uniform and we believe this will help since an officer cannot hide out because everyone in the field will easily identify them. This is one of the many initiatives to curb down corruption.As regards service delivery, we have carried out workshops and education schemes on quality service delivery. We have also established a client charter for civil servants. This includes the officers’ names, responsibilities and the contacts. Basically, we have a baseline for targets and achievements compared to the national goals and MDGs. Qn. Do the citizens of Kicukiro district understand the vision? A: Yes, most of them do. You see, most city dwellers are intellectuals; they read and also listen to radios. However, there are those who still think vision 2020 is something which will be brought by the government, which is actually a misconception. In Kicukiro, we have a number of indicators that the citizens’ understanding of the vision 2020 has really risen. Qn. Any challenges so far? A: Yes, there are still a number of challenges;Misinterpretation whereby people still take the government as their guardian and so put their hands in the pockets and wait for government support as I mentioned earlier. Rural-urban migration; people still pack up their bags and shift from the village and come to town with no capital for any business and yet most of these are illiterate so they can not find jobs easily. The spirit of team work and working in cooperatives is still low. Qn. What is your message to the entire community as regards the vision? A: My message is that every Rwandan be part of the whole project of vision 2020. We are privileged to have a President who has a vision for our country. Let’s all be supportive and cooperative so that we can build our country and very soon we shall achieve our goals. The famous Asian Tigers can be a good example for us; they achieved much only through positive thinking, determination and working together. For comments, questions, supplements please contact: iyimanzi@gmail.com