Kigali:  The Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat has been moved to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning as part of government's effort to institutionalize and strengthen the linkage between capacity building and national planning to meet the national priority needs. The body has since its inception been operating under the Ministry of Public Service and Labour.  Speaking during the handover ceremony, John Rwangombwa, the Finance Minister, welcomed the move saying that it will improve monitoring and evaluation, the budget cycle and overall strategic capacity building interventions for the public sector.

"We are very happy to have PSCBS join us as it will ease the alignment of interventions with national priorities defined in the EDPRS and vision 2020," said Rwangombwa.

Anastase Murekezi, the Public Service Minister, said that although PSCBS has been transferred to the Finance Ministry, they will continue working together for better coordination.

According to the two ministries, PSCBS will only be carrying out coordination and planning while the implementation duties like training of public servants will go to the Rwanda Institute of Administration and Management (RIAM).

Speaking to The New Times, the Executive Secretary of PSCBS, Stella Mugabo, said that there had been poor coordination of the secretariat's activities.  "With the new arrangement, we will be able to harmonize capacity building activities in all public institutions and hence relate these activities to a well functional planning in alignment with national priorities," Mugabo said.

PSCBS was formed in 2009 by the Government to develop adequate skills, knowledge and competencies of civil servants as well as to enhance capacities of public institutions.