Umuganda

Umuganda is a national holiday in Rwanda taking place on the last Saturday of every month for mandatory nationwide community service from 08:00 to 11:00.

The program was most recently re-established under President Paul Kagame in 2009, having resulted in a notable improvement in the cleanliness of Rwanda.

[5] In the late 1800s, Belgian elites in Rwanda wanted to limit the King's monetary flow and being about the end of the patronage system.

In the 20th century, Rwandans were recorded as being required to work for their community leader twice a week, while the Belgians encouraged "umuganda" as a way of life.

Umuganda tasks may have included "building schools, repairing roads, constructing bridges, digging anti-erosion ditch, and other state projects".

[2] As part of Rwanda's reconstruction efforts after the genocide, President Paul Kagame mandated that every last Saturday of the month would be known as "umunsi w'umuganda" or "contribution made by the community", during which all traffic would be stopped for three hours in the morning in order for Rwandans to clean up the war-torn capital.

[8] From research out of Kigali and the Western Province, post-genocide, Rwandan people felt that the main reasons for Umuganda was "cheap labour force, to train the population for self-solving problems, maintain unity, [and] to create a channel of communication".

[2] People are incentivized to participate due to "mutual help; meeting friends; neighbors and socialising; pleasing leaders; getting information about the government's plans; and because of the fear of punishment or prosecution".

Inspired by the success of Umuganda in Rwanda, the Mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba introduced a volunteer cleanup programme called A Re Sebetseng in August 2017.

[15] All Rwandans aged 18 to 65, except those unfit to participate, are legally required to take part in Umuganda civil conscription scheme; non-compliance may result in a fine of RWF 5,000.