GITEGA December 4th (ABP) – Burundi Senate President, Mr. Emmanuel Sinzohagera, proceeded on December 1, 2023, to the opening of the ordinary parliamentary session for the month of December 2023.
Those ceremonies saw the participation of the governor of Gitega province, the municipal administrator of Gitega, certain members of the diplomatic and consular corps accredited to Burundi and other executives of the country working in the political capital of the country.
In his speech for the occasion, Mr. Sinzohagera took the opportunity to take stock of the achievements of Senators during the parliamentary recess. Speaking of the achievements, he said that members of the Senate office visited the provinces of Muyinga, Rutana, Muramvya, Mwaro, Rumonge, Bururi, Cibitoke, Bujumbura and Bujumbura Mayorship.
He reported that in some provinces they joined the provincial administration to welcome the torch of peace and in others they joined the people in community development work.
Based on that, the Senate President invited the Senators to always participate in community development work organized in the provinces and communes where they were elected. He explained that that work is part of the contributions that will make it possible to fully achieve the vision of the President of the Republic while adding that their work is not limited to the voting of laws only.
Mr. Sinzohagera also indicated that they had opportunities to provide advice to the population which will enable them to improve their living conditions, particularly with regard to the safeguarding of peace and security, the limitation of births, membership in cooperatives, payment of taxes, love of the homeland and citizens, mutual assistance and protection of the environment.
He also reported that the Senate, through its permanent commissions, visited certain hospitals and centers responsible for welcoming and closely monitoring groups of people with different problems, insurance companies, the Burundian revenue office, different detention centers, the judicial police, public prosecutor’s offices as well as nature reserves to see how living beings are protected there.
The Senators also visited different departments and different organizations to inquire about the state of play regarding respect for human rights and invited their officials to double their efforts to increase performance so that Burundi is an emerging country in 2040 and a developed country in 2060.
Mr. Sinzohagera specified that during that ordinary parliamentary session in December, in addition to their constitutional mission, the Senators will analyze and if possible, adopt two bills that the government of Burundi sent them. Those include the bill revising law nº1/13 of April 23, 2015 reorganizing the electricity sector in Burundi and the bill revising law nº1/03 of May 7, 2016 governing the public debt management.
To close, the President of the Senate reminded the Senators that they have a great share of responsibility in the fight for the dignity of the Burundian citizen and that they are called upon to ensure that there is no citizen who is denigrated or discriminated against in their own country.
“Let us stand up as one to abolish that kind of behavior because it is the source of lamentation and hatred. Let us always put forward the love of our citizens instead of favoring foreigners. That will show that we share the same cradle,” concluded Mr. Sinzohagera.