Rwanda : Rwanda plans on Village mapping
In a bid to implement the process of decentralization, the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB)plans on mapping the smallest units of umudugudu (villages) in the entire country by creating well-identified demarcations for all units of national administration.
The deputy CEO of RGB, in charge of good governance promotion and decentralization, Ambassador Fatuma Ndangiza says that this plan seeks to ensure that the smallest units of administration are well demarcated to avoid villages overlap one another and further the policy of disseminating the decision-making authority lower to the people.
Rwanda has been undergoing a number of stages in a quest to see the power of leadership is endowed onto citizens rather than a few central government leaders. The process of decentralizing is now in its third phase, and will be completed by 2015.
Ndagiza said that in this respect, the process will enable citizens in having most of the decisions made by people at the grassroots level of administration, which assures better development when the community is involved.
She also noted that as the process of decentralizing continues, these demarcations will help in knowing the physical demarcations of all administrative units in the country and will improve efficiency of the policy implementation
However, Dr. Felicien Usengimana, who is charged with Research and Monitoring at RGB says the process still faces a number of challenges, which include the financial constraints of rolling out such a diverse national project. “We are still challenged with the technology needed in executing the project.
Through the process of decentralization, Rwanda currently has 30 districts, 416 sectors and over 2000 cells countrywide.
