In this interview, Joel Ntihemuka talks about moving the paper-based operations of the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) online. He discusses the challenges of starting this process from scratch, without infrastructure or skilled personnel. Ntihemuka talks about having several stand-alone IT systems for internal functions and different types of taxes, as well as the process of buying software from foreign vendors and customizing it to Rwandan needs. He shares his view on the RRA as providing a public service and emphasizes the importance of high quality service delivery. Ntihemuka discusses the RRA’s attempts to use technology to make filing taxes convenient for Rwandan citizens. This was the motivation behind introducing online and mobile tax declaration. He also talks about the process by which the RRA set up online and mobile tax declaration and stresses the importance of having tax personnel take charge of these projects as they are better aware specific requirements than IT personnel. Ntihemuka emphasizes the benefits of having support from government leaders in terms of investing in infrastructure and bringing partners together. Lastly, Ntihemuka discusses his future vision for the RRA as working in tandem with the government to have a fully digitized and integrated system that provides a single view of a tax payer across various tax departments. 

In this interview Aimable Kayigi Habiyambere talks about the creation of the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) as the tax collection agency of the government. He discusses the structure of the RRA, specifically that the agency is accountable to a board of directors that represents both the private sector and various ministries of the government. Kayigi Habiyambere talks about the RRA’s internal audit department, that reports directly to the board as opposed to the leading Commissioner of the RRA. He discusses a dedicated staff training institute for the RRA and various programs including an anti-corruption strategy and a whistleblower policy. Kayigi Habiyambere also talks about restructuring the RRA to have departments that were divided by the nature of the taxpayer rather than the nature of the tax. This made is easier to solve tax compliance issues by having a single file for each taxpayer. He shares his experience during the transition from filing paper returns to filing returns online and via mobile phone for those with limited internet access. Kayigi Habiyambere stresses the importance of targets for the tax collection agency as motivation to perform. 

Vargas characterizes the Centro de Coordinación de Acción Integral (CCAI, Comprehensive Action Coordination Center) as a coordinating agent established under the Colombian Presidency that connects local demands with national supply. Focusing on the Montes de María region, Vargas traces a process of i) identifying Montes de María as a strategic transit point near the Venezuelan border and the Caribbean sea that merits institutional attention, ii) assessing local priorities incorporating input from local authorities and producers (including the chamber of commerce, avocado and cacao growers), iii) relaying that assessment to the national level for strategic action, and iv) facilitating state interventions in the region. CCAI activities pertaining to two main issue areas: road infrastructure and land ownership.  Vargas singles out the Transversal de los Montes de María, a major road across the region that is under construction by army engineers, but some work is done on secondary roads by private contractors.  He notes that in the face of limited resources, the CCAI chose to maximize impact by focusing on highly productive and densely populated areas and by delivering durable (but more expensive) road infrastructure, which led to a tradeoff between number of projects and quality of output.  To put CCAI land ownership work in context, Vargas points out that the issue is complicated by internal displacement and land transactions during the conflict, by the return of the displaced in the post-conflict era, by a culture of informality and by limited state capacity. To address this range of situations, the CCAI has adopted three approaches: First, to coordinate investigation of land purchases during the conflict, exploring the possibility of transactions under duress. Second, to normalize land ownership through various programs focused on restitution. Third, to promote socially-responsible industrialization by providing platforms for dialogue between small landowners and new private developers.  Vargas also shortly elaborates on a pilot program aimed at victims from small towns, on funding sources, on channels of cooperation with regional authorities and on recent structural changes within the CCAI.  He underscores that the Center does not pursue a policy of return for the internally displaced, but instead responds to the observable phenomenon that they are returning on their own. He also assimilates the problem of continuity across political administrations with the need to phase out CCAI activities as local capacity is strengthened. He closes by zeroing in on two keys for success: honesty about what can and cannot be done when dealing with the local community, and the fostering of trust, which may require an intervention as inexpensive but valuable as installing a water pump.