ABSTRACT Imihigo, Rwanda’s flagship performance barometer, is praised for its cultural innovation while being criticised for instrumentalising the regime’s international credibility. Both views gloss over several thematic points, including the strategic self-criticism Imihigo affords. We triangulate fieldwork data collected from local government actors and non-state agents in four districts with secondary data to analyse the quotidian strategies undergirding the spread of, and governance responses to, Imihigo. Our analysis demonstrates three key points. First, the decentralisation reform offers the requisite institutional backdrop for officials to articulate Imihigo as a cultural innovation for local governance and regime legitimacy. The state’s reasonable support for Imihigo incentivises local service delivery, although this is used by the regime to control the local arena. Consequentially, Rwandans’ interest in Imihigo frames a forum for official criticism. Our study shows a paradoxical use of cultural and modern norms for contemporary governance through a strong state committed to producing results.