The Imihigo approach has been operational since 2006 in Rwanda and is the reason behind the fast trend of development in Rwanda compared to other countries in Africa. For example Rwanda not only met but exceeds the Water and sanitation MDG Targets. “Every year both central and local government sign Imihigo/ Performance Contracts with His Excellence the President of the Republic, Paul Kagame. Though IMIHIGO was an ancestral approach/ home grown, its modernization and use to setting objectives is one of the innovative approaches to development planning and evaluation. It is increasingly becoming one of home grown initiatives that are changing the face of Rwanda as an invaluable tool for planning and effective implementation of the development policies. Since then IMIHIGO is used in Rwanda to design performance management contracts signed at the level of all public institutions including Ministries, embassies and Districts with the President of the Republic. At the end of every fiscal year, a performance evaluation is also conducted by independent evaluators with the coordination of the Prime Minister’s Office to assess the performance achieved against Imihigo targets and identify gaps to inform potential improvements in the following year’s Imihigo planning and implementation process…’ (Wikipedia)
This year Rusizi District excelled. Having been bottom of the heap in 27th place, this year, 2016 it has shot up to 4th place in the national league performance tables. Rusizi has 650 villages of which 150 have started CHCs through the AFrica AHEAD programme and another 200 have been started by the Swiss Aid. Given there is little other development projects in the District it may well be that the CHC which have galvanised the community to high levels of adherence to government standards may be the driving force behind this spectacular rise in performance in what was one of the leastdeveloped districts in the country before 2012.