Building capacity for local leaders

Capacity challenges are still a reality in the public sector and are affecting the quality of services rendered to the population, officials have said.The governance stakeholders were, last week, speaking at a two-day function in Kigali, which attracted officials from seven districts from Western and Southern provinces.Organised jointly by the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), the Rwandese Association of Local Government Authorities and the Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat (PSCBS), the forum assessed districts’ plans on capacity building and highlighted top priorities in the area.Faustin Minani, the RGB technical advisor, said the programme will pave the way for making elaborate districts’ capacity building plans for the next fiscal year. The plans are in line with the Local Government Capacity Building Strategy, which was adopted by a Cabinet meeting back in 2011, he said.The strategy aims at ensuring that local government have qualified and skilled staff operating in a conductive environment for effective service delivery.The areas of planning, monitoring and evaluation, leadership and management, laws and policies, documentation and archive, human resources management and English language which has become a necessity in communication, still need to be strengthened, Minani said.“Clear capacity building plans at district level will facilitate planning and budgeting for the next year to ensure that interventions meet with the specific needs of beneficiaries,” he said.Geoffrey Ndayishimiye, a PSCBS capacity development expert, told this paper that the capacity challenges in the public sector affect service delivery and the socio-economic development of the country.“Capacity building plans will facilitate a smooth implementation of districts’ development plans,” he said.

National

Building capacity for local leaders