Declaration 2: Publication and Manuscripts
7.3 From traditional to institutional organisation of umuganda
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population is pressured to carry out umuganda weekly, whereas the latter is only done monthly in Kigali city.
From the fieldwork, it was discovered that the ideology of community participation underpinning umuganda has been rendered meaningless by the belief that the power of the state has extended so far that it has diminished the possibility that ordinary people can become properly involved in order to address matters crucial to them. Umuganda, which is understood as a state-led practice, runs contrary to the civic inclusiveness of the original idea. Government leaders are the ones who decide what to do and who supervise what is being done, which gives little meaning and actual value to participation in umuganda by local people.
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Since independence, umuganda has remained a government and state program. Post-colonial governments, especially under the MRND, decided which public works/projects were to be undertaken, as well as who might be excluded from participating in umuganda (Barnhart, 2011:
5). Umuganda was a medium of communication and propaganda, especially in the times leading up to genocide, where many were mobilised to attend umuganda. But propagandas then excluded the ba-Tutsi so that they would not know government plans (FGD b-1 20 Dec 2010).
Although the current government also decides what projects are to be worked on during umuganda, it is done through the decentralisation structures, which reach down to the smallest unit in the community (see Chapter Four for the government structure of umuganda).
However, data presented indicates that, despite having decentralisation structures in place, the organisation of umuganda activities is still not at the local level. Therefore, it can be argued that relying on the central government or on top-down forms of decision-making not only denies citizens freedom but also opens a gap between development initiatives and the local people as beneficiaries. This empirical study suggests that not involving beneficiaries of the policy or project in its design and management stops people from taking ownership of any planned development programme and thus restricts their participation.
Secondly, ordinary people are still required to perform umuganda, which is overseen by local government officials. However, the evidence presented indicates that some aspects of administering umuganda have changed since the mid-1990s. For example, the frequency of participation in umuganda has changed from weekly, in the post-colonial era, to monthly in the urban areas. While the policy document specifies that umuganda should be performed once a month, those in rural areas are still subjected to the weekly umuganda. This facts show disparity in the requirements of the practice of umuganda in urban and rural areas.
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Data from this research indicate that local community members cannot or are not motivated to organize umuganda for any community member’s need in their midst. This makes the state and the society (as the people) function separately, because people still think that umuganda is state-driven.56
The organisation of umuganda serves state and political leaders and addresses concerns that do not improve the conditions of the very poor in the community. In general, umuganda has consistently been understood to have shifted from being a traditional philosophy to a state and government policy. It is ironic that what was once used in the service of people has turned into being at the service of the leadership of the state. The implication of this change is again seen in the activities performed for umuganda, most of which do not meet local communities’ needs.
The rationale of umuganda activities includes the eradication of poverty but this is not evident in practice.
From the data presented already, it appears that umuganda activities and gatherings are organised at the sector level. The activities planned are passed on to the cell leader in charge of umuganda and community mobilisation, and from the cell level it is relayed downwards to the village (umudugudu). Then, a village leader is expected to announce to the community members of the umudugudu details concerning their participation and the activities to be implemented. This hierarchical arrangement is depicted in Figure 7.2.
56 Jennings (2000: 2) comments that it is not participation if the purpose is to engage an indigenous population to convince them of the wisdom of a program which they took no part in forming, or if contact with the local population is used to confirm the integrity of a preconceived idea.
179 Figure 7.2: Organisation of the practice of umuganda
As the diagram shows, the sector is somewhat at a remove from the local people. There are times, though, when umuganda can be organised at the umudugudu level, for instance, the case of the Western Province’s weekly umuganda. Even then, ordinary local people are either not motivated or not allowed to initiate umuganda without permission from the umudugudu leader. Most activities are planned from the umurenge, cell council and are often directed by the district level to the umudugudu. Beside some informal umuganda, organised by private or civic institutions, it was learned that even the weekly umuganda in the Western Province is sometimes organised at the district level. Although occasionally activities will be planned at umudugudu level, the general understanding is that an umudugudu leader acts on instructions from the district council. The government’s interpretation of decentralisation is a chain of command from upper to lower levels. This has had the effect of disempowering local people.
There seems to be little encouragement for the people to make decisions themselves concerning umuganda and to instil in them the confidence to take concerted action in a manner they consider most appropriate to their circumstances.
Sector (Umurenge)
Cell Council (akagari)
Village (Umudugudu)
Individuals
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