IGISUBIZO :

Nibyo koko ubu hari ivugurura rw’Inzego za Leta n’Imikorere yazo ririmo gukorwa mu Butegetsi bwa Leta (Inzego Nkuru, Central Government n’Inzego z’Ibanze (Uturere, Imirenge, Utugari n’Imidugudu). Ivugurura muri rusange rigamije kunoza imiterere y’Inzego za Leta n’Imikorere yazo kugira ngo zishobore gutanga serivisi nziza ku baturage no kwihutisha amajyambere y’uRwanda. Gahunda y’imbaturabukungu no Kurwanya Ubukene (EDPRS 2008 – 2012) n’Icyerekezo 2020 birasaba Abakozi bajfite ubumenyi n’ubushobozi bihagije bo gukora mu nzego za Leta no mu Mirimo y’Abikorera. Muri 2007 na 2008, hakozwe isuzuma-mikorere y’Inzego za Leta (Inzego Nkuru za Leta, Central Government na Local Governments) rigaragaza ko amavugurura yagiye aba mbere yazanye impinduka nziza mu Miterere n’Imikorere y’Inzego za Leta. Ariko na none iryo suzuma rigaragaza ko hakiri n’ibintu bigomba kunozwa kugira ngo inzego za Leta zirusheho gukora neza no kwihutisha iterambere. Ivugurura turimwo dutegura rero riri muri icyo cyerecyezo.

Ivugurura rikorwa mu byiciro byinshi bitewe n’ibyo rigamije. Gukorera ibintu byose icyarimwe birarushya; ahubwo byose bigomba kugendera kuri gahunda. Iri vugurura turimo riragendera ku isuzuma-mikorere ryarangiye gukorerwa Inzego za Leta zimwe. Ubu Ibigo bya Leta na Komisiyo za Leta nabyo birimwo gusuzumwa. Isuzuma-mikorere yabyo nirirangira nabyo bizavugururwa hakurikije ibintu by’ingezi bizaba byagaragajwe ko bigomba gukosorwa kugira ngo izo Nzego zishobore gutanga serivisi nziza kandi zigere ku musaruro ushimishije.

IGISUBIZO :

Ivugurura rikorwa mu byiciro byinshi bitewe n’ibyo rigamije. Gukorera ibintu byose icyarimwe birarushya; ahubwo byose bigomba kugendera kuri gahunda. Iri vugurura turimo riragendera ku isuzuma-mikorere ryarangiye gukorerwa Inzego za Leta zimwe. Ubu Ibigo bya Leta na Komisiyo za Leta nabyo birimwo gusuzumwa. Isuzuma-mikorere yabyo nirirangira nabyo bizavugururwa hakurikije ibintu by’ingezi bizaba byagaragajwe ko bigomba gukosorwa kugira ngo izo Nzego zishobore gutanga serivisi nziza kandi zigere ku musaruro ushimishije.

Mwavuze isuzuma ryakorewe Inzego za Leta, ibyo ryaba ryarabonye ko ari byiza cyangwa bigenda neza byo ni ibihe ? Mwatubwira ibintu by’ingenzi ryagaragaje ko bigomba guhinduka?

IGISUBIZO :

Mu bintu by’ingenzi isuzuma-mikorere ry’Inzego za Leta ryasanze bigenda neza twavuga nko kwegereza Abaturage Ubuyobozi na Serivisi bakeneye, ubushobozi bw’Abakozi bwiyongereye mu Nzego z’Iibanze guhera muri Mutarama 2006. Ikindi cyiza cyagaragaye ni uko hagabanijwe Intera nyinshi mu Miterere y’Inzego za Leta, bityo serivisi zikarushaho kwihutushwa ugereranyije na mbere y’iryo vugurura. Inzego za Leta zakorewe imbonerahamwe y’urutonde rw’imirimo (Job Classification), ndetse n’imishahara y’Inzego zose yahurijwe hamwe mu rwego rwo kugereranya imirimo n’igihembo cyayo (harmonization). Ivugurura ryatumye hategurwa za politike zitanga umurongo inzego za Leta zigenderaho, Inzego nyinshi zifite igenamigambi zigenderaho ; ndetse Gahunda y’Imihigo yahinduye byinshi mu mikorere yacu, cyane cyane ku bijyanye no guteganya ibikorwa, kubikurikirana no gusuzuma icyo byamariye Abaturage. Mu bintu bigomba gukosorwa byagaragajwe n’isuzuma-mikorere ku Nzego za Leta, navuga iby’ingenzi bikurikira :

• Gukomeza kwegereza Abaturage Serivisi bakeneye, bityo Central Government igasigarana inshingano zayo zibanze zo kugena Politike, gushyiraho na Gahunda z’Igihugu, gutegura Amategeko n’Amabwiriza no kureba ko yubahirizwa, kongera ubushobozi bw’Inzego zose harimwo n’Abikorera ndetse na Civil Society, gushakisha inkunga no guhuza ibikorwa byose, gukurikirana no gusuzuma ibyakozwe kugira ngo umusaruro ukomeze wiyongere.
• Guteza imbere Imikorere (management systems improvement). Aha navuga ko hagaragaye ko hari ibintu bya ngombwa (management tools) bigomba gushyirwaho kugira ngo imicungire y’ibintu, abantu na serivisi za Leta itere imbere mu nzego zose. Urugero twatanga ni procedures zijyanye n’imicungire y’Abakozi (human resource procedures manual), imicungire ya serivisi n’ibikorerwamo (administrative and operations procedures manual), ndetse n’izijyanye n’indi mitungo na information zitangwa n’inzego zinyuranye.
• Guteza imbere imikoranire no guhanahana amakuru mu nzego za Leta. Aha isuzuma ryasabye ko ibikoresho by’ikoranabuhanga n’imiyoboro y’itumanaho Leta ifite byakoreshwa cyane mu korohereza Abakozi mu kazi kabo, aho gukoreshwa nk’ibyandikirwaho dosiye gusa. Aha hifujwe ko ibi bikoresho byafasha mu igenamigambi, mu gucunga igihe, mu gutanga serivisi za kure, mu guhanahana amakuru ku buryo bwihuse, mu ikusanyamibare mu kuyicunga no kuyisesengura, n’ibindi.
• Kongera ubushobozi bw’Abakozi. Isuzuma ryagaragaje ko Abakozi bose, ariko ku buryo bwihutirwa Abashinzwe guhanga za politike, gukurikirana ko zashyizwe mu bikorwa no gusuzuma ko zageze kubyo zashyiriweho, bagomba guhambwa ubushobozi buhagije kugira ngo bashobore kugera ku nshingano zabo
• Gutanga ububasha bwo gufata ibyemezo (power delegation) ku Nzego za Leta no ku Bakozi. Isuzuma-mikorere ryifuje ko ububasha bwo gufata ibyemezo bwahabwa Inzego zose ndetse n’Abakozi kugirango Abayobozi borohererwe mu mirimo yabo, akazi kihute ndetse n’Abakozi bamenyerezwe gufata ibyemezo no kurangiza ibibazo by’Abaturage ku buryo bwihuse.

Ubu mwatubwira ibimaze gukorwa kuva mutangiye iki cyiciro cy’ivugurura? Bikorwa gute? Bikorwa na bande? Ibisigaye gukorwa byo ni iIbihe? Bihuzwa gute n’ibyavuye mu isuzumamikorere mumaze kutubwira?

IGISUBIZO :

Kuva Inama y’Abaminisitiri yo ku wa 23 Nyakanga 2008 isabye ko iri vugurura ritangira mu Nzego twavuze, hari ibimaze gukorwa. Icya mbere navuga ni uko Minisiteri y’Abakozi ba leta n’Umurimo (MIFOTRA) yateguye inyandiko isobanura icyo ivugurura rigamije (Concept Note) n’inyandiko isobanura amahame azagenderwaho n’uko ivugurura rigomba kuzagenda mu Nzego zose za Leta (Guidelines). Ibi byaganiriweho na Komite ishinzwe gukurikirana ivugurura (National Reform Steering Committee), byohererezwa Inzego za Leta; kandi abakurikirana iki gikorwa buri munsi bahuguwe na MIFOTRA. Ikindi navuga ni uko turangije gukora isesengura rya za proposals zerekeye Inshingano (Missions) n’Ibikorwa bikuru (Core Functions) bya buri Rwego, kugira ngo Inzego zibifitiye Ububasha zizabyemeze. Iki gikorwa ni ngombwa mbere y’uko hakorwa ivugurura ry’Imiterere n’Imikorere ya buri Rwego. Ubu kandi Inzego Nkuru za Leta nka Perezidanse ya Repubulika na Serivises za Minisitiri w’Intebe zarangije ivugurura, izindi Nzego Nkuru na Central Government ndetse n’Inzego z’Ibanze zirimwo zirarangiza gutegura Imiterere yazo (organizational Structures); naho Ibigo na Komisiyo biracyakorerwa isuzuma-mikorere. Buri Rwego nirwo rwikorera ivugurura ryarwo, Abayobozi barwo bakabiyobora. Ibivuyemo bigashyikirizwa National Reform Steering Committee, igizwe na MIFOTRA, MINALOC, MINECOFIN, MINICAAF, Umuyobozi Mukuru mu Biro bya Nyakubahwa Perezida wa Repubulika, Umuyobozi Mukuru mu Biro bya Nyakubahwa Minisitiri w’Intebe, Urwego Rushinzwe Politike n’Ingamba muri Perezidensi ya Repubulika (SPU), Urwego Rushinzwe Coordination muri Primature; n’Umunyamabanga Nshingwabikorwa wa Komisiyo y’Abakozi ba Leta. Iyi Komite niyo ishinzwe gusuzuma ibyavuye mu Nzego zose no kubishyikiriza Inzego zibifitiye Ububasha kugirango zibyemeze. Igikorwa kigomba gukurikira ibirimo bikorwa ni ukurangiza Imiterere mishya y’Inzego (Structures), hakagenwa imirimo ya ngombwa izazikorerwamo (job identification), hagashyirwaho ibya ngombwa Abakozi bazazikoramo bagomba kuba bujuje kuri buri murimo (job requirements), gusesengura neza ibigomba gukorerwa muri buri murimo (job description); no kugereranya imirimo no kuyishyira k’urutonde rw’imirimo rwemewe mu Rwanda (Job classification).

• Kuvugurura amategeko no guhanga amashya aho bikenewe,
• Gukora Gahunda yo kongera Ubushobozi bw’Abakozi,
• Gushyiraho Systems na Tools zigamije guteza imbere imicungire y’Inzego (procedures and manuals ),
• Gushyiraho uburyo bwo gucunga no guhana amakuru neza mu Nzego za Leta (communication systems),
• Gushyiraho uburyo Inzego n’Abakozi bagira uruhare mu gufata ibyemezo (power delegation),
• Gushyiraho uburyo bwo gukurikirana no gusuzuma ko ivugurura rigenda neza; kandi ko rigenda rigera ku ntego zaryo.

Ibi biteganywa gushyirwa mu bikorwa ryari? Abantu baribaza bati reforms zizarangira ryari?

IGISUBIZO :

Murabona ko iri vugurura rigizwe n’ibyiciro binyuranye, uko buri cyiciro kizajya kirangira niko kizajya cyemezwa n’Inzego zibifitiye Ububasha, kandi kigahita gishyirwa mu bikorwa. Bimwe byararangiye, ibindi byinshi bizemezwa muri iyi minsi ya vuba. Mu buzima bw’Inzego (Institutions), navuze ko ari ngombwa kwisuzuma buri gihe kugira ngo urebe ibigenda neza n’ibigomba gukosorwa. Buri gihe rero bizaba ngombwa ko hagira igihinduka kugira ngo Inzego za Leta zirusheho gukora neza, haba guhindura byinshi cyangwa bikeya bizajya bikorwa igihe cyose bibaye ngombwa. Ubu ku Isi hose Inzego zihora zipima ku zindi ziteye nkazo kugira ngo zipiganwe mu mikorere. iyo zisanze imikorere yazo itanogeye abazisaba serivise zirivugurura kugira ngo zitere imbere kurushaho. Nta mubare wa ngombwa twavuga wa za reforms zizakorwa, kuko zizahoraho. N’umwaka utaha tuzaba dukomeza kuvugurura. Ahubwo igikomeye ni uko za reforms zikomeye dushaka kuzihutisha kugirango nyuma hazajye hakorwa kunoza gusa; kandi n’Abikorera babone urubuga n’inkunga ya Leta ishyingiye ku nzego zayo z’imirimo zubatse neza kugirango iterambere rirusheho kwihuta kandi Abaturage barusheho gukira. Ni ryo banga ry’Ibihugu byadutanze imbere mu majyambere.

Iyo havuzwe reform abantu bamenyereye kumva Abakozi birukanwa, ubu abazirukanwa barangana iki? Bazafashwa iki? Leta irashaka gusigarana bangahe?

IGISUBIZO :

Ikigamijwe muri iri vugurura si ukwirukana Abakozi; ahubwo ni ugushyiraho Inzego zikora neza kandi zitanga umusaruro ushimishije. Nta mubare w’abakozi bazasezererwa wateganyijwe. Ariko icyo navuga ni uko mw’isesengura ry’inshingano n’ibikorwa bikuru by’Inzego, bishoboka ko hari imirimo yakwimurirwa mu zindi Nzego, cyangwa se ikanavaho. Ikindi gishoboka ni uko izindi nzego zakongererwa imirimo kubera ubwiyongere bw’inshingano. Aho rero ingaruka zaba ni uko hari Abakozi bakwimurwa nko ku rwego rw’Umurenge hakaba benshi kurusha uko bimeze ubungubu. Naho abazasezererwa kubera ko imirimo bakoraga yavanyweho kandi batabonewe ahandi bimurirwa biturutse ku bushobozi bwabo buke, ibi ni ibintu bisanzwe biteganyijwe n’amategeko tugenderaho. Ndumva rero nta Mukozi wakagombye kugira ikibazo cyangwa ubwoba kuri iri vugurura kuko ibikorwa byose bishingira ku mategeko. Cyeretse Umukozi waba ari umunebwe cyangwa wica akazi ka Leta yabigambiriye; bene uwo Mukozi aba akwiye kwibwiriza akabisa abakora neza atagombye no kurushya Abategura ivugurura. Nihagira Abakozi basezererwa kubera impamvu z’ubushobozi bwabo budahagije, hari ibyo amategeko abagenera; nko guhembwa 2/3 by’umushahara bwite bari basanzwe babona mu gihe cy’amezi atandatu, ndetse n’imperekeza mu gihe baburirwa akazi ka leta mu gihe kitarenze amezi atandatu (6). Leta kandi ifite Porogaramu yitwa Reconversion ibafasha gukomeza amashuri makuru cyangwa kwigishwa kwihangira imishinga no gushaka inguzanyo z’imishinga yabo.

Ko ntacyo mwatubwiye ku mishahara? Abantu baravuga ko imishahara iziyongera byaba ari byo? Iziyongera kuyihe mpuzandengo?

IGISUBIZO :

Kimwe mubizasuzumwa muri iri vugurura Ni imishahara. Aha navuga ko iyo imiterere y’Inzego n’iy’imirimo bihindutse, bikunda kugira ingaruka ku mishahara y’Abakozi. Ubwo hari imirimo ishobora kuzahabwa uburemere itari ifite, ikazamurwa mu ntera, ubwo n’imishahara iyiteganyirijwe izazamuka. Ariko si izamuka ry’imishahara rya rusange tugamije, kuko ibyo bizakorwa duhereye ku mizamukire y’ubukungu, kandi turizera ko Inzego nshya zizaturuka muri iri vugurura zizagira uruhare rukomeye mu kuzamura ubukungu n’ubukire bw’Abaturage. Ikindi tuzareba ni Imiterere y’imishahara tugenderaho ku Nzego zose kugira ngo turebe ko inoze. Nidusanga hari ibigomba gukosorwa nabyo tuzabikora, duhereye cyane cyane kuri ziriya Nzego z’Imirimo zifite imishahara mito cyane muri iki gihe, nk’Abarimu, Abapolisi n’Abasirikare.

Twumvise Inama y’Abaminisitiri yaremeje ko Abakozi ba Leta bose bagomba kwigishwa ururimi rw’Icyongereza mu gihe gito. Ese mwaba mugeza he mutegura uko icyo Cyemezo cyashyirwa mu bikorwa?

IGISUBIZO :

Icyo Cyemezo cy’Inama y’Abaminisitiri kigamije gukangurira Abanyarwanda kwihutira kwiga Icyongereza ari benshi, bikaba biri mu murongo w’Itegeko Nshinga rya Repubulika y’uRwanda, riteganya ko Indimi zikoreshwa mu Rwanda ari Ikinyarwanda, Icyongereza n’Igifaransa. MIFOTRA izafasha Abakozi ba Leta kwiga Icyongereza yifashishije Ikigo Nyarwanda Gishinzwe Guteza imbere Amahugurwa (RIAM). Kubera ko ubuzobere mu kwigisha neza ururimi rw’Icyongereza atari bwinshi mu Rwanda, twegereye Ibigo mpuzamahanga n’ibyo mu Karere uRwanda rurimwo kugirango bipiganire ku byerekeye iryo soko ryo kwigisha icyongereza bafatanyije na RIAM. Ubu tumaze gusuzuma imibare y’Abakozi ba Leta mu Nzego Nkuru za Lata, za Minisiteri, Ibigo bya Leta na za Komisiyo, Intara, Uturere n’Imirenge. Imibare y’agateganyo ku Bakozi ba Leta iragera ku bihumbi cumi na bitanu (15,000) bifuza kwiga Icyongereza, hatarimwo Abarimu, Abapolisi n’Abasirikare nabo bagomba gukorerwa za gahunda zihariye zo kwiga urwo rurimi. Icyiciro cya mbere cy’uyu mushinga kizamara umwaka umwe turifuza ko cyatangirana n’ukwezi kwa Mbere 2009, ariko imyiteguro yo gushaka abazabikora n’ibikoresho irakomeje.

Ese Abakozi ba Leta ko ari benshi, ubwo bazigira icyarimwe ururimi rw’Icyongereza babe barumenye?

IGISUBIZO :

N’ubwo Abakozi ba Leta ari benshi, turifuza ko bazajya bigira hafi y’aho bakorera uko byashoboka kose. Abari iKigali bazajya bakoresha Ibyumba by’Inama bihari. Aho bishobotse kandi bakoreshe n’ibikoresho bihari. Kubera ko Inzego z’ubumenyi Abakozi bariho zitandukanye, abazahabwa isoko ryo kwigisha bafatanyije na RIAM bazajya babashyira mu byiciro binyuranye. Ibyiciro byose bizatangirira rimwe. Umwaka nurangira, birumvikana ko Abakozi bazaba bari ku ntera zitandukanye z’ubumenyi. Uko umukozi urangije icyiciro azajya ahabwa Ikizamini agahabwa n’Icyemezo kigaragaza aho ageze. Umukozi azahabwa Certificat ari uko arangije ibyiciro byose bizaba biteganyijwe. Umwaka wa mbere w’umushinga nurangira, umushinga uzakomezanya n’Abakozi bazaba bataramenya neza urwo rurimi rw’Icyongereza. Kugirango Abakozi bashobore kwitoza kuvuga no kwandika urwo rurimi, tuzajya dushishikariza Abakozi kuvuga Icyongereza mu kazi nko mu manama, no gutegura inyandiko mu Cyongereza. Ibi tuzabishyiramo imbaraga kubera inyungu Igihugu cyacu kibifitemo. Kuba twarinjiye mu Muryango wa “East African Community” bituma tugomba kumvikana n’abandi. Abakozi kandi bagomba nabo kuba bafite ubushobozi bwo gukorana muri ibyo bihugu; ndetse no kurahura ubwenge ku Isi yose mu byerekeye ubumenyi, ikoranabuhanga; n’ubucuruzi. Izindi Nzego za Leta nk’Abarimu, Abasirikare n’Abapolisi, nazo zizashyirirwaho gahunda zihariye dufatanyije na za Minisiteri zizishinzwe. Abikorera nabo turifuza ko bamenya Icyongereza cyinshi, bagafatanya n’Abakozi ba Leta mu kwihutisha amajyambere y’uRwanda. Tuzafatanya n’Inzego zibashinzwe mu kubateganyiriza amasomo y’Icyongereza, kandi Abakoresha babo barasabwa gufasha Abakozi bo muri Private Sector na Civil Society kwitabira iyo gahunda yo kwiteza imbere.

It is my pleasure to participate as Guest of honor in this Workshop on Government Policy on the Pension Industry,

The concept of Pension Schemes is a fundamental consideration of every Nation across the world as it directly impacts upon the lives and well-being of its citizens. Pension Schemes are rooted in the need for solidarity and risk pooling by the society given that no individual can guarantee his or her own social security.

The role of Pension Schemes and Products is increasingly being recognized by Governments and Financial organizations for both their role in poverty alleviation and economic growth. The Government of Rwanda, in designing the vision 2020 goals and targets, considered the role to be played by Products from social security system for economic investment in Rwanda through savings mobilization.The diagnostic carried out during the participative process of EDPRS pointed out the weakness of social security as one of the main factors leading into poverty However, the impact of Pension Schemes and Products on economic transformation largely depends on how the pension industry structure is designed and regulated.

Therefore, there is a need to set out Policy and Regulatory Framework necessary to transform the existing Pension Schemes and Products system into a more comprehensive system that addresses the needs of our citizens and fundamentally contributes to the development and economic growth in our Country.The Government of Rwanda is promoting the establishment of diversified Pension Schemes and other long term savings instruments; but the development of a sound financial and service Pension Schemes industry calls for a strong prudential management to ensure profitability and sustainability. The Government is also in process of formulating the national socio-security policy which can bring into Pension Schemes the majority of the population including those in informal and rural sector; and covering different products like solidarity pension, occupational hazard, medical insurance, maternity insurance, housing and education.

In this regard, the regulatory framework must provide a conducive environment that is in line with socioeconomic context of our citizens and addresses their needs. Thus, the Regulation framework has to facilitate the extension of Pension Schemes to non-covered workers and other fields not covered by the current system. The current Social Security System provides limited coverage to the Rwandan population, because it covers only the formal sector.

Rwanda has a current population of 9.9 million of which about 4 million are economically active. However, as on 30th June 2007, there were only 205,000 active contributors in the Social Security System of Rwanda (SSFR). This is only around 5% of the working population. This is by far too small a number to get a real change in the social-economic transformation. This is why the Government of Rwanda is looking for a strategy to expand coverage by providing support and incentives to design products more appropriate to individuals with low and non regular incomes in informal sector and rural areas. The establishment of a sound policy and a solid legal framework for both private and public Pension Schemes management is an important step to be undertaken. As a matter of priority during these up coming months.

The vision of Pension Schemes industry, public and private, must go widely beyond covering social risks. It must actually be an effective instrument of savings mobilization; and therefore enable the Nation to accelerate the development through inclusive investment and strong participation of many stakeholders.

In this perspective, the Government of Rwanda is planning to introduce the social security system for all Rwandans with a mandatory commitment for some products and voluntary basis for other. This system will be strengthened by the creation of provident fund pillar and other innovative incentives. Then, the Government of Rwanda will provide mechanisms of financing and managing the different Pension Schemes in Rwanda to guarantee optimum investment, profitability and sustainability.

I thank you for your kind attention and I declare open this Workshop on Pension Schemes in Rwanda.

The press release is aimed at enlightening on the reform being carried out in the Public Institutions and the National English Language Training project.Generally, this reform aims at designing the structures and the functioning of public institutions in order to improve the quality of their services to the population; and to accelerate Rwanda’s development. The Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDRPS) and the Vision 2020 require knowledgeable and committed people to serve in public institutions as well as in the private sector.

In 2007 and 2008, the Government of Rwanda embarked on functional review exercise in public institutions (Central and Local Governments) which revealed that the previous reforms resulted into positive changes in the structures and functioning of public institutions.However, the outcomes of this functional review also showed that there were issues that needed to be addressed for public institutions to be able to improve their functioning and accelerate the development process. The current reform is being carried out in this framework. Public Agencies and Commissions are currently being evaluated, and they will also be reformed basing on the outcomes of this evaluation exercise, especially on issues that will be found to be in need of being addressed in order for these institutions to achieve satisfactory results.

Among the positive elements that were revealed by the public institutions function review are: the decentralization process and improved service delivery and improved capacity of Local Governments staff since January 2006, reduced bureaucracy, introduction of Job classification for public institutions; and development of policies guiding public institutions. Issues that called for change as revealed by the public institutions evaluation:

• 1) Clarification of roles in decentralizing the services to the population to allow the Central Government remain with its main mandate of developing policies and programs, putting in place laws and regulations, strengthening the capacity of all Institutions including the Private Sector and Civil society organizations, monitoring and evaluation in order to achieve improved productivity.
• 2) Management systems improvement. It was noticed that some management tools needed to be put in place in order to improve property and staff management and the quality of services at all levels of Government Institutions. Example is the human resources procedures manual, the administrative and operations procedures manual.
• 3) Promoting collaboration and information sharing among public institutions. At this point, the evaluation requested that the Government’s information communication technology equipments be used to facilitate public servants’ work instead of just using them to type the documents. It was suggested that these equipments be used in planning, providing remote services, sharing information in a very quick way, in gathering and analyzing statistics, etc.
• 4) Strengthening public servants’ capacity. The evaluation revealed that all public servants, and more especially those in charge of developing policies and monitoring their implementation be given enough training in order to allow them carry out their assignments satisfactorily.
• 5) Power delegation in Government Institutions. The evaluation suggested that the decision making authority be given to public servants in order to accelerate the work and train them to make decisions that quickly solve the population problems.

After the decision of Cabinet Meeting of 23rd July 2008, that this reform be implemented in the institutions mentioned above, there are already a lot of achievements. MIFOTRA prepared a concept note explaining the reasons behind this reform, its guiding principles and the reform guidelines in all public institutions. This was discussed in the National Reform Steering Committee and sent to all public Institutions. The public service reform focal points were also trained by MIFOTRA

We are finalizing the process of analyzing missions, core functions and structures, proposals for Central Institutions and local governments and the documents will be sent soon to the competent authorities. Every institution carries out its own reform, under the supervision of the concerned institution’s leaders. The outcome of the reform is submitted to the National Reform Steering Committee which is composed of MIFOTRA, MINALOC, MINECOFIN, MINICAAF, the Director of Cabinet in the Office of the President, the Director of Cabinet in the Prime Minister’ Office, the Strategy and Policy Unit in the Office of the President, the Coordination Unit in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Executive Secretary of the Public Service Commission. This committee is entrusted with the mandate of analyzing the outcome-reforms that were proposed in various public institutions and submitting them to competent authorities for approval.

The activities that will follow involve the completion, carrying out job identification, job description and job classification. After this, other activities which will follow include:

• Review of laws as the case may be;
• Developing the public servants capacity building program
• Putting in place systems and tools that promote the management of public institutions (procedures and manuals);
• Putting in place proper information sharing systems among all public institutions;
• Putting in place staff and power delegation process;
• Putting in place the reform monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess whether its objectives are being achieved.

Some people ask themselves when reforms will come to an end. The reform is implemented in phases. Upon its completion, each phase will be approved by competent authorities and will immediately be implemented. Institutions need to constantly evaluate themselves to check if all goes well and take corrective measures where necessary. Therefore, changes will always be there so that public institutions can improve on their functioning. Whether changes are major or small, they will always be carried out whenever necessary. Globally, institutions constantly compare themselves to their peers in order to compete among them. When they realize that some of their services are not well appreciated by the beneficiaries, they carry out some reforms to improve on their functioning. This is now the case in Rwandan Public Institutions.

We can not mention the number of reforms that will be carried out, as this is a process. Reforms will go on even next year. What is important here is that we want to speed up with the major reforms so that we only deal with improvements in the future; the private sector will also have a support from the Government so that the development process can be accelerated. The objective of the reform is not to retrench public servants but to put in place well structured institutions which deliver and yield satisfactory results. There is no planned number of public servants who will be retrenched. However, the analysis of the assignments and activities of public institutions showed that some activities might be shifted in other institutions or completely be cancelled. Another possibility is that other institutions can see their activities increased due to increased assignments. Therefore, the consequences would be that some public servants may be transferred to other Institutions, like the Sector (Umurenge for example) for the purpose of serving better the population.

As for those who will be retrenched after their posts have been cancelled and they have not been transferred to other institutions due to insufficient capacity, this is governed by the good practices of capacity building and business development. If there are public servants who are retrenched, the law provides for their benefits including payment of 2/3 of the net salary they have been getting and this is for a period of six months and a retrenchment allowance that will help them, should they fail to get a new job in public service within six months following their retrenchment. One of the major aspects of this reform is salaries. Some of the posts will be given more assignments and put at a higher grade, and the corresponding salaries will also be increased. However, the objective of this exercise is not to increase salaries. This will be done in the future basing on the level of the national economic growth; and we hope that the new institutions’ structures that will come out of this reform will have a critical role in building the national economy and the population welfare. We will consider the current salary structure at all levels in order to formulate the Rwandan long term salary policy with special attention to those institutions where salaries are low like Teachers, Police and the Army.

THE ENGILISH LANGUAGE TRAINING PROJECT (NELT PROJECT)

Concerning the decision ruled out by the Cabinet Meeting on 8/10/2008 that public servants should learn English, the decision aims at sensitizing Rwandans to learn English in mass as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda whereby the Official Languages in Rwanda are Kinyarwanda, English and French. MIFOTRA will help public servants learn English in collaboration with Rwanda Institute of Administration and Management (RIAM). Due to the fact that the expertise in teaching English is not enough in Rwanda, we approached our friends and sensitized them to help us for English Teaching.

So far, we have already identified the number of public servants in higher level public institutions, Ministries, Public Agencies and Commissions, Provinces, Districts and Sectors. The provisional figures indicate fifteen thousand (15,000) public servants who want to learn English. The first phase of this project will last for one year and we want it to start in January 2009. However, the preparations of looking for trainers and the necessary logistics are underway. Despite the fact that public servants are too many, we want them to be learning English from as near their working places as possible. They will use the available meeting rooms and equipments where possible.

Due to the fact that the levels of public servants English knowledge differ, they will be put in different levels. All the levels will start their training at the same time. After one year, it is obvious that public servants will have reached different levels of knowledge. As a public servant completes one level, he/she will sit for an exam testing his/her level of knowledge. After completing all the levels, He/she will be given a final certificate upon completion of all the phases of the training. After one year, the project will continue with those who will have not got full knowledge of English. A total of three years of active mass teaching of English for the public servants are planned for this special program. In order to allow the public servants practice and write English, we will sensitize them to prepare documents in English and to speak English at their work places and during meetings.

We will invest a lot of efforts in this project given the benefits that our Country expects from it. The fact that we joined the East African Community implies that we have to communicate with others from the member States. Public servants and business community have also to expand their knowledge from all sides of the world in areas of science, technology and business. Other public institutions like Teachers, Judiciary, Police and the Army will also benefit from special programs of learning English in collaboration with the concerned Ministries. We also plan to work closely with the private sector for learning English, so that they can join their hands with public servants in the move towards Rwandan rapid development. We will closely work with the concerned institutions to develop English training modules, and employers in the private sector and the civil society are requested to facilitate their employees to participate in this developmental program.

Hope the release will help the Rwandans to support the programs aimed at reforming public Institutions and teaching English in our Country, Rwanda, where good results come from hard work.