Rwanda: 13th Governance Scorecard Results Show Service Delivery Decline

• The 13th Rwanda Governance Scorecard results indicate a mixed performance, with four governance pillars improving and four declining.
• Quality of service delivery registered the largest decline, primarily due to decreased citizen satisfaction with digital public services, including online court case filing.
• Investing in human and social development recorded the most significant improvement, driven by gains in education, health, and environmental resilience.
• The rule of law pillar demonstrated the biggest improvement among high-scoring areas, while political rights and civil liberties experienced a decline.
• Safety and security maintained its position as the highest-scoring pillar, achieving over 90 percent.

Citizen satisfaction with online court case filing experienced a particularly sharp drop of 13.6 percentage points, indicating potential practical challenges or inefficiencies within digital legal processes.

The 13th Rwanda Governance Scorecard results, recently unveiled by the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) on Thursday, October 22, present a nuanced picture of the nation's progress across various sectors. The comprehensive assessment, which evaluates governance performance through eight distinct pillars, 35 indicators, and 153 variables—an increase from 151 variables in the preceding 12th edition released in 2025—reveals a mixed outcome. While four of the eight governance pillars demonstrated improvements, the remaining four experienced declines, highlighting areas requiring focused attention.

A significant shift observed in the latest scorecard was the substantial drop in the quality of service delivery, which registered the most considerable decline among all pillars. Conversely, the pillar dedicated to investing in human and social development recorded the most notable improvement, signaling progress in critical areas like education and health. These overarching trends underscore the dynamic nature of governance evolution in Rwanda, with both successes to celebrate and challenges to address as the country moves forward.

The most pronounced setback identified in the 13th Rwanda Governance Scorecard results was the 3.25 percentage point decrease in the quality of service delivery, falling from 71.73 percent in 2025 to 68.48 percent in 2026. This Rwanda service delivery decline was primarily attributed to a weaker performance in digital public services, a critical area for modern governance. Citizen satisfaction with online court case filing experienced a particularly sharp drop of 13.6 percentage points, indicating potential practical challenges or inefficiencies within digital legal processes. Furthermore, satisfaction levels for radio communication and Irembo services also decreased by 7.5 and 5.6 percentage points, respectively, signaling a broader issue with Rwanda digital public services satisfaction.

Beyond service delivery, other pillars also faced declines. The political rights and civil liberties pillar saw a reduction of 1.15 percentage points, moving from 82.71 percent to 81.56 percent, marking a Rwanda political rights civil liberties drop. Similarly, participation and inclusiveness decreased by 1.59 percentage points, settling at 84.72 percent from its previous 86.31 percent. The economic and corporate governance pillar also registered a decline of 1.56 percentage points, dropping from 74.84 percent to 73.28 percent, pointing to areas where regulatory and operational frameworks for Rwanda economic corporate governance may need reinforcement.

Despite the identified challenges, the 13th Rwanda Governance Scorecard results also highlighted several areas of robust performance and significant improvement. Five of the eight governance pillars achieved scores exceeding 80 percent, demonstrating consistent strength in key sectors. Safety and security maintained its top position with an impressive 90.15 percent, reflecting sustained efforts in this fundamental area. Within this pillar, resilience, social cohesion, and unity scored 95.87 percent, followed by maintaining security at 92.58 percent, though personal and property safety was lower at 83.46 percent.

The rule of law pillar recorded the most substantial improvement among these high-scoring areas, increasing by 3.84 percentage points from 81.63 percent to 85.47 percent, underscoring a positive trajectory in legal frameworks and enforcement, indicating a Rwanda rule of law improvement. Anti-corruption, transparency, and accountability also saw an improvement, rising by 1.13 percentage points to reach 85.80 percent. The most significant overall gain was observed in investing in human and social development, which improved by 3.86 percentage points, climbing from 64.69 percent to 68.55 percent, driven by advancements in climate change and environmental resilience, education, and health.

Minister of Local Government, Dominique Habimana, acknowledged the positive developments, stating that these gains reflect years of deliberate institution-building and a lasting commitment to accountability, citizen participation, the rule of law, security, transparency, and a culture of performance. However, Habimana also issued a cautionary note, emphasizing that strong performance in some areas should not overshadow those where progress remains limited. He explicitly stated that satisfaction cannot be achieved while service delivery is declining and human and social development levels remain low.

The Minister stressed the imperative to act faster and more deliberately in areas where performance is still weak, even as stronger pillars are sustained. He further articulated that the ultimate assessment of governance performance should be based on how policies and institutions genuinely impact citizens' daily lives, particularly at the local level. The findings from the 13th Rwanda Governance Scorecard results are intended to serve as a crucial guide for local governments, prompting them to strengthen coordination, deepen citizen participation, and ensure public services are readily accessible to all.

Lawyers in Rwanda should note the reported decline in citizen satisfaction with online court case filing, which may indicate practical challenges or inefficiencies in digital legal processes. The mixed performance across governance pillars, including improvements in rule of law but declines in political rights and economic governance, provides crucial context for advising clients on operational risks, compliance, and human rights considerations within the Rwandan legal and regulatory landscape.

Source: Original reporting via the Rwanda Governance Board