BUJUMBURA November 10th (ABP) – The president of the Word and Action organization for the awakening of consciences and the evolution of mentalities (PARCEM), Mr. Faustin Ndikumana, hosted on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, within the premises of the said organization, a press conference during which he expressed himself on a possible roadmap to redress the economic situation of Burundi, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
At first glance, the chairman of the PARCEM organization told the press that there is extreme inflation with remarkable poverty where vulnerable people are increasing more and more. The middle class made up of state officials is also affected, he added.
He also indicated that there is youth unemployment, the scarcity of foreign exchange which continues with the disruption of the supply of basic necessities, dilapidated infrastructure due to a lack of financing, such as bridges and roads, which cannot guarantee economic growth that can reverse the trend.
To get out of this situation, Mr. Ndikumana proposed through that roadmap that there be the appointment of three high-level commissions to look into a group of specific issues.
He said the first commission would look at recovering social cohesion, the painful past, political space and elections, corruption and economic malfeasance. There is a need for an anti-corruption policy where people must be held accountable for their actions, including those caught embezzling public funds, he proposed.
According to Mr. Ndikumana, institutional interference is one of the challenges that block the institutional effectiveness of the state.
As for the management of human resources, the president of the PARCEM organization proposed that there be expertise in the management of projects and scientific research.
He also stressed that activism should not continue to influence the appointment of people to technical positions that must embody government effectiveness and efficiency.
Mr. Ndikumana proposed the adoption of the strategy of mobilizing external resources such as aid, access to external borrowing like other countries, foreign direct investment and public-private partnership.
According to him, the evaluation of budgetary governance is of paramount importance. That evaluation of budgetary governance is possible if a sufficient budget is granted to the Court of Auditors which, in turn, will evaluate public institutions on the management of public funds.
The second commission we are talking about would look at Burundi’s potential while identifying the growth-enhancing sector that would pull Burundi out of poverty and defining the role of actors such as the State and the private sector. Everyone must place themselves in the sector where they will create added value, underlined Mr. Ndikumana.
The third commission is responsible for evaluating and distributing dividends. This evaluation must be done in all areas of the life of the country, he explained.
After those commissions, it is then necessary to establish recommendations and organize the state’s general of the living forces to learn, validate and have a single document of national vision, which should be approved by the government for an effective implementation of these recommendations, indicated the chairman of the PARCEM organization, who concluded by proposing the budget revision very soon to adapt the budget allocation to the well-identified challenges and which would have higher priority.