Competing Dimensions of Centralisation and Decentralisation under RPF Rule

Chemouni, Benjamin [UCL]

This paper aims at improving our understanding of decentralisation in Rwanda under the RPF rule by shedding a light on its nature and historical origins. The level of decentralisation in Rwanda is unprecedented historically and is often considered key in bringing services closer to the people and fostering local participation through elections of local officials or innovations such as ubudehe. This conflicts with the also widespread analysis that decentralisation in Rwanda is mostly a deconcentration, i.e. an efficient tool of policy implementation of a very centralised power, that, in this respect, shows clear continuities with the past. This paper aims at contributing to this debate by analysing the nature of decentralization in Rwanda and documenting its history since 1994. Based on 7 months of fieldwork in Rwanda, this paper draws on interviews with central and local governments, but also on the analysis of legal documents, statistics, and participant observation. By taking the example of the agriculture and health sectors, we analyse the incentive and disciplining mechanisms along with the decision-making powers of the state actors from the centre to the ground. Only by disaggregating policy formulation and implementation processes can we reach a better image of the tension between centralisation and decentralisation in Rwanda. Indeed, decentralisation of powers is not uniform and differs depending on the aspect of policies one looks at. In addition, the informal norms that animate the actors at the central and local level need to be understood to account for the reality of decentralisation of powers in Rwanda. The paper then shows that the contrasted nature (de)centralisation of power in Rwanda originates in the RPF ideology and organisational culture but is also directly informed by the experience of genocide. Continuities with the past, whilst present, play a much less important role.