MPs made this remark Wednesday while undergoing an induction course where they were being trained about various subjects such as functioning of the Parliament especially the chamber of deputies, various government programs as well as procedures and use of technology to fulfil their responsibilities, among others.
When the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning briefed MPs on the formulation, analysis and ratification of the national budget, deputies urged the government to consider citizen participation in policies formulation.
MP Eugène Barikana said that even until now citizens are not included in policy making and implementation enough. He asked the government to make further efforts and consult local population in the decisions that affect and are intended for them.
“People make efforts to design the national budget, but do not invest in formulating policies. Citizen participation at the village and cell levels is not sufficiently thought through. More efforts need to be made because policies start from the local population,” he said.
MP Odette Uwamariya said that the program of citizen participation in the development of policies has been in place for long but that it should be improved to involve citizens and hence raising their role in their implementation.
MP Winifrida Mpembyemungu asked the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning about the existing measures to involve citizens in policy elaboration and implementation so that the national budget is used as an infrastructure that has to be increasingly harnessed.
He went on to say that the involvement is sometimes happens but is not used enough while the goal is to improve the welfare of citizens.
State Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Dr. Claudine Uwera admitted that elaborating policies should be sufficiently enhanced.
“Revisions are being made to strengthen policy making starting from the village level. Citizens should be involved because they play a role in sustaining what has been achieved.” She said.
She told MPs that they also have a role to play by sensitizing citizens to participate in the elaboration of the national budget.
In early 2018, Rwanda Governance Board announced that their survey revealed that citizens are not involved in policy implementation and are considered to be ignorant.
Despite citizen participation in government policies still being low, RGB states that some positive steps have been taken in some areas such as providing political opinion at 90%, and finding home-grown solutions that is at 85%.
Leave a Reply