The Citizen Budget Guidebook has been distributed by the Rwandan government through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for many years. This tool is designed to help citizens closely monitor the implementation of the national budget.
The idea is to increase transparency and accountability in budget execution, and to ensure that taxpayers have direct contact with the entire budget cycle.
Citizen budgets are written using simple language that is easy to understand. This allows ordinary citizens to easily interpret and make sense of the budget process, priorities, and allocation of public funds.
The Ministry of Finance currently prints approximately 20,000 copies of Citizen Budget Guidebook. Each one contains 24 pages. Each village is expected to receive a copy. Copies are also sent to schools and other local administrative units.
While there has been some improvement of citizen participation in budgetary processes (at 60%), particularly during the formulation phase. However, there is still a need to make it a culture for citizens to demand more from leaders during the implementation phase.
Citizens are the ultimate source and beneficiaries of national budgets. Therefore, they should not only be well-versed in the budgeting process, but also be able inform and influence budget priorities.
They can also monitor the execution of the budget closely and identify gaps and challenges that could inform their inputs to the next budget.
The Citizen Budget Guidebook is an essential tool that will help the executive meet its budget commitments and provide value for money.
This is why the Guidebook – which is written in Kinyarwanda, English and French – should be easily accessible to all citizens at the grassroots.
Copies should not just gather dust in the village ‘gitifu’ office, but rather any citizen should be in position to access them during the course of the fiscal year. The documents should also be discussed at community meetings, Umuganda, Umugoroba w’AbabyeyiAmong others.
However, this coordination and monitoring between the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and those of Local Government is essential for it to be possible.
[email protected]
Source: rnewtimes
