BUJUMBURA November 2nd (ABP) – The first deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Mrs. Sabine Ntakarutimana chaired, Tuesday, October 31, 2023, the closing ceremonies of the parliamentary session for the month of August 2023.
On that occasion, Mrs. Ntakarutimana announced that the national assembly analyzed and adopted five draft laws, namely the draft law ratifying by the Republic of Burundi the Agreement between the government of the Republic of Burundi and the government of the Republic of Maldives on visa exemption for nationals of the respective countries, the bill ratifying by the Republic of Burundi the Agreement between the Government of the State of Qatar and the Government of the Republic of Burundi , concerning the regulation of the employment of Burundian workers in the State of Qatar.
During the same session, the deputies also analyzed and adopted the bill ratifying by the Republic of Burundi the Military and Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Burundi, the bill ratifying by the Republic of Burundi the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as the bill establishing the electronic and postal communications code.
She also underlined that the National Assembly analyzed and adopted the Senate amendments relating to those five bills.
In addition, the National Assembly also analyzed and adopted, on second reading, the organic bill amending Law No. 1/08 of March 17, 2005 on the code of judicial organization and jurisdiction.
Ms. Ntakarutimana also recalled that during that session, the National Assembly received in plenary session, the answers to oral questions with debate, addressed to members of the government with the Ministers of National Education and Scientific Research; Commerce, Transport, Industry and Tourism; Public Health and the Fight against AIDS; Interior, Community Development and Public Safety; Environment, Agriculture and Livestock; and that of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning.
Furthermore, Parliament meeting in Congress followed the presentation of two government reports. One related to the implementation of the government’s action plan for the second half of the 2022-2023 budget year, the other related to the main actions of the government’s work plan and annual budget for the 2023-2023 financial year 2024.
In addition, she added, Parliament met in Congress to follow the presentation of the progress report of the truth and reconciliation commission.
In terms of the representation of the people, the first deputy speaker of the National Assembly recalled that the members of the Office of the National Assembly organized several descents in different provinces of the country, in order to listen to and support the population in their daily activities.
In addition, she reminded leaders to be torchbearers in the implementation of national projects and programs, to be good role models in everything and to have well-defined specific objectives, in order to lead the citizens of whom they are responsible, to the vision of Burundi: “Emerging country in 2040 and developed country in 2060”.
Furthermore, Mrs. Ntakarutimana also underlined that the deputies joined the population in various prayer crusades and in different national celebrations, notably the commemoration of the 62nd anniversary of the assassination of Prince Louis Rwagasore, Hero of the independence of Burundi , the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the assassination of the Hero of Democracy, President Melchior Ndadaye, the day of local solidarity, the communal festival, as well as the national culture festival.
In terms of interparliamentary cooperation, she highlighted that the delegations of their institution participated in particular in the 147th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and its related meetings held in Angola, in various statutory meetings of the Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (FP-ICGLR), organized in Uganda and Tanzania, at the 9th world conference of young parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) which took place in Vietnam, at the mission of parliamentary information on the armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo organized in Rwanda and at regional parliamentary conferences of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) held in Chad and Ethiopia.
During that parliamentary session, the National Assembly congratulated the government for the new territorial division of the country which went from 18 to 5 provinces, with the aim of optimizing the efficiency of public administration and facilitating the implementation coherent public policies adapted to local needs.