Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi has called upon relevant institutions to instill good governance saying it is one of the pillars for sustainable development in the country.
Habumuremyi was speaking at the 4th African Parliamentary Forum (APF) conference involving speakers of the parliaments from Francophone countries that took place at the parliamentary building, Kimihurura.
The conference which attracted representatives from 14 African countries was held under theme; ‘The Role of African Parliaments in Promoting Good Governance’.
“For Good governance to be attained, local populations must have a role in it yet the parliament acts as the bridge between the government and the local population,” Habumuremyi said.
Habumuremyi said that decentralization policy is a principle pre-requisite for good governance promotion in Rwanda, because the local people are involved in planning, preparing and implementation of national programs.
The Premier further noted that Rwanda’s Parliament has played an imperative role fostering of good governance in the country.
He cited an example of the recommendations the law makers adopted in reaction to the auditor general’s report on mismanagement of funds in some government institutions.
The Speaker of Rwanda’s Parliament Rose Muntabana said while addressing the conference that the meeting will benefit Rwanda because Parliaments plays an important role in a country’s good governance, democracy, and justice.
Roch Marc Christian Kabore, the chairperson of the African Parliamentary Forum of Speakers from the Francophone countries (APF), revealed that Rwanda is one of the important member states within ‘Le Francophonie’ countries because of its influence on the African continent.
Kabore said that such meetings aim at implementation of resolving pressing issues of local populations of member states and promotion of democracy, by building states governed by law and respecting human rights.
“It’s clear African problems today revolve around political, social, and economic affairs, lack of good governance and corruption practises that undermine our countries’ development,” Kabore said.
“We parliamentarians, have to fully play our mandatory role in problem solving. Parliaments must be independent, checking government’s activities,” He added.
After the opening of the conference, participants visited Kigali Genocide memorial centre at Gisozi, where they laid wreath of flowers on a mass grave, where over 250,000 bodies of victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi are laid to rest.
The parliamentarians said that they were greatly saddened by inhumane acts done by Rwandans; killing fellow innocent Rwandans.
They said that the Rwandan genocide should serve as a lesson to other countries, to strive that it does not happened again elsewhere in the world.
ENDS
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