Community participation and implementation of the housing projects for the needy families of Ubudehe Program in Gicumbi District, Rwanda
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Date
2019-05
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Kampala International University,College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
This study set out to examine the role of community participation in housing projects for the
needy in Gicumbi District, Rwanda. The study was guided by the following objectives: i) to
examine whether the target community has power to negotiate the terms and conditions of
housing project for the needy families in Gicumbi District; ii) to establish how power is
delegated to the community members to contribute towards housing projects for the nee~iy
families in Gicumbi District; and iii) to investigate whether community members have
partnership with other stakeholders in housing projects for the needy families in Gicumbi
District. The study adopted a case study design. The target population was 2,100 participants
who included project leaders, local leaders and project beneficiaries. The sample size was 327
respondents, though, 248 participated giving a response rate of 76%. Research instruments used
were interview guide and focus group discussions. Qualitative data was analyzed by editing
transcripts to identify the significant statements across individual and group interviews. The
study found out that the citizens had control in the following project activities, democratically
elected their representatives at the village level, negotiated project terms and conditions of work,
selected potential project beneficiaries, distributed project deliverables to the beneficiari~s,
monitored and evaluated several project activities, participated in decision making and held their
leaders accountable. Furthermore, the study found out that power which was delegated to the
community members included, among others, decision making in meetings, forums, and
seminars; involvement in budgeting and planning of financial resources, and holding their
representatives accountable and sometimes take legal action where need be. The following
recommendations were made: the project team should ensure that citizens participate and have a
degree of control in all the project activities that directly affect them; the government and the
project leaders should always involve the community members in decision making in all matters
of the project that would directly or indirectly affect them to avoid conflict of interest at a later
stage of the project; and the government and the project officials should provide grounds for
flexible partnership with the local communities so that they willingly participate in the projects
Description
A research report submitted to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in Project Planning and Management of Kampala International University
Keywords
Community, Participation, Projects, Housing, Needy families