Rwandans begin Planting season
Rwandans woke up to a sunny Saturday and got busy with community work “Umuganda” –it included renovating houses for the needy, beginning the planting season, constructing stone roads, and other general cleaning activities.
Umuganda-a mandatory exercise is held at the last Saturday of every month. Defaulting citizens are fined accordingly.
The community work activities across the country have significantly contributed to the economy: especially public infrastructure, sanitation, citizen mobilization to public policies.
Last year, Umuganda activities were worth Rwf19 billion ($25 million).
For Musanze district which emerged the last (30th position) in the recent evaluation of the thirty districts, residents today cleaned-up roads and all other public places to improve sanitation, which contributed to their poor performance.
“Most residents in our district have poor hygiene. It is one of the reasons we performed poorly,” said Jean Claude Musabyimana, the district mayor.
Senator Fatou Harerimana that also participated in the community work in Musanze urged residents to collaborate with local leaders to improve the general performance of the district.
