MPs move to streamline decentralization policy

KIMIHURURA - Legislators heard yesterday that the policy of decentralization has registered success but a lot still needs to be done. Following a tour of districts of Kigali City by the Parliamentary Committee on Political Affairs, they found that despite the achievements, there still remained unresolved problems. Alfred Gasana, the Chairperson of the Committee, told the House that in general, the problems are three-fold: Problems mainly hinged on legislations, how the local administration works; and how the local administrative levels collaborate. Gasana pointed out 13 cases were observed where problems based on laws. Among those, he noted that the law on land use and management which prohibits the portioning of a hectare of land meant for agricultural use was not complied with in all districts they visited. The legislators noted that directives from districts are not put in writing as it should be. One of these is directives on issuing of tenders. Gasana said that when expropriating persons in the interest of the public, those being expropriated must be compensated fittingly, “but in most places that the Committee visited, we found some cases where this was not adhered to”. He added that in general, laws approved by Parliament are not known by the population, “and especially, they are not known by leaders who are supposed to implement them”. Regarding operations of local administrative authorities, Gasana highlighted 10 cases that include the fact that “some local leaders do not find sufficient time to explain to people the resolutions taken before implementing them, and therefore they upset people when asking them to implement what they don’t really understand”. The lawmakers also observed that in most districts, executive committees make decisions without enough information because they do not adequately utilize their technicians. On hitches related to collaboration of local administrative units, he raised six areas of concern. One is that leaders are still called to attend many meetings – and are not allowed to delegate– thus do not get enough time to attend to other important matters. He also said that when tenders are awarded, sectors are not informed of the details so that they can monitor. The House has listed 15 recommendations to government with an aim of streamlining the decentralization policy. The House unanimously voted to adopt and send the report and recommendations to the Executive and then monitor how the government implements them. The policy of decentralization which got on course in 2006 is now in the third phase. Ends

National

MPs move to streamline decentralization policy