Beneath the veneer: decentralisation and post-conflict reconstruction in Rwanda
Gaynor, NiamhORCID: 0000-0001-5645-7032
(2017)
Beneath the veneer: decentralisation and post-conflict reconstruction in Rwanda.
Third World Thematics, 1
(6).
pp. 779-798.
ISSN 2380-2014
In 2000, the Rwandan government began the phased introduction of a decentralisation
programme throughout the country. The programme aimed at countering citizen’s
exploitation and marginalisation - a principal driver of the 1994 genocide - through broadbased participation in local development planning. This article analyses the extent to which
Rwanda’s evolving decentralisation process is meeting this aim. Tracking a shift in emphasis
from local political participation to economic growth, it argues that increased
technocratisation and centralised control combined with poor policy responsiveness and low
levels of local government legitimacy are undermining post-conflict reconstruction.