ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY RIGHT HONOURABLE EMMANUEL SINZOHAGERA, SPEAKER OF BURUNDI SENATE, OPENING THE ORDINARY PARLIAMENTARY SESSION OF APRIL 2022

                                                            Gitega, April 1^st, 2022

Honourable Second Deputy Speaker of the Senate;

Honourable Senators;

Your Excellencies members of the Government of Burundi;

Mister Governor of the Province of Gitega;

Madam President of the High Court in Gitega Province;

Mister Attorney General of the Republic in the province of Gitega;

Mister President of the Labour Court in Gitega province;

Mister Administrator of Gitega Commune;

Dear Heads of the Defense and Security Forces;

Your Excellencies Ambassadors and Representatives of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps accredited to Burundi;

Dear Representatives of International Organizations in Burundi;

Distinguished guests;

Ladies and gentlemen;

1. I would like, on behalf of the Senate Bureau, and on my own behalf, to thank the Almighty God who guided us in the visits on the field which we carried out during this month of recess, to visit the population. These visits on the field allowed us to join the population in their daily activities, to talk to them, and to collect their grievances as their representatives. Here we are, safe and sound! Let us applaud the Lord as a sign of thanksgiving!

• On February 28, 2022, at the closing ceremony of the ordinary session of December, we informed you that we would meet in this hemicycle today on April 01, 2022 for the solemn opening of the ordinary session of April, which is the third and last session of the year, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Burundi, in its articles 190 and 192.

• This period of recess that we are closing has been a sad one for our friends of Uganda. The Speaker of the National Assembly of this country, His Excellency Rt Honourable Jacob OULAYAH, died on March 21, 2022. We ask you to observe a minute of silence in his memory. May God rest his soul in peace and comfort his family and the parliamentarians of that country.

Distinguished guests;

Ladies and gentlemen;

• The recess that we have just ended has been a good opportunity to join the population in their daily work. We have organized meetings for them, we sensitized them to respond massively to the projects initiated by the government for their development. We encouraged the heads of the different departments of the public service and we explained them how they can properly manage the staffs under their responsibility. We also sensitized all those who work in the field of the education of the youth to strengthen morals and we asked them to concern themselves with that youth as worthy parents. We called on the population to increase production, to protect the environment by increasing the number of trees that coexist with crops, and asked them to protect water by uprooting eucalyptus near water sources.

• It is in this regard that the Senate Bureau, together with the Honourable Senators, visited different communes and provinces of the country in order to realize how the Government is implementing the projects which it has promised to accomplish for the population.

• . As far as we are concerned, we visited the provinces of Ngozi and Bujumbura and we joined the population of the CIAP agro-pastoral cooperative in the work of harvesting potatoes in the commune of Gashikanwa, Ngozi province.

• We also met with education authorities in Isale commune with the ultimate aim of pursuing the goal which the parliamentarians of Bujumbura province have set for this school year “to increase school performance, school by school, subject by subject”. In that same province, we joined the natives in the celebration of the New Year via the Association for   the Development of the Province Bujumbura, SOPEDABU in acronym.

• The Honourable 1^st Deputy Speaker of the Senate visited the provinces of Mwaro, Cankuzo, Bururi and Karusi. She joined the population in community development activities. She also joined those who are associated in cooperatives in the harvesting activities. She advised them to continue working in associations since “Many hands make light work”.

That authority also participated, on March 8, 2022, in the celebration of the International Women’s Day under the theme “woman at the centre of agricultural development and environmental protection“.

That day was celebrated in the province of Rumonge.

• The Honourable 2^nd Deputy Speaker of the Senate visited the province of Ruyigi. He visited some communes where major projects such as constructions are being carried out. He sensitized the population to work in strict respect of ethics and deontology and to use building materials responsibly.

1.  To ensure better control of the execution of the State budget, the Parliament of Burundi, in collaboration with UNICEF, organized a capacity-building workshop for parliamentarians who are members of the standing committees in charge of finance as well as the presidents and vice-presidents of other standing committees and some executives of the Parliament on ” the analysis and use of a budget review and reporting law as well as the management of the public debt taking into account the concerns of children”. That workshop took place from March 29 to 31, 2022 at the Hôtel des Plateaux in the capital of Ngozi province.

1. We take this opportunity to congratulate the Government for its concern for the well-being of the population, especially in the domain of agriculture in this cultivation season where it is granting chemical fertilizers. This will serve in the implementation of the programme to increase the harvest. We hope that the harvest for this season B will be successful.

Honourable Senator;

Distinguished Guests;

1. To strengthen the cooperation between the Senate of Burundi and other Senates and international organizations of which the Senate is member, we participated in the 11^th conference of the Association of Senates, Shoora and Equivalent Councils of Africa and the Arab world (ASSECAA) in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, from March 03 to 05, 2022.

1. The Honourable First Deputy Speaker of the Senate is participating in the 60^th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries on the one hand and those of the European Union on the other hand. That Session which is taking place in Strasbourg, France, started on March 29 and will end on April 04, 2022.

Honorable Senators;

Distinguished Guests;

1. This ordinary session of April is dedicated to the vote of the general budget of the State for the financial year 2022-2023. It is for this reason that we ask all those who are responsible for the collection of the general revenues of the State and those who manage them to work hard to promote the socio-economic development of the country. We therefore remind all Burundians to roll up their sleeves, to work together in order to increase production.

1. We embrace the measure taken by His Excellency President of the Republic stressing that the dividends of parastatal companies must have the same account number in the central bank (BRB) for better management of the State assets in order to be able to implement the projects planned for the benefit of the population.

1. During this ordinary session of the April that we are opening today, in accordance with article 198 of the Constitution of the Republic of Burundi, the Senate will analyze and adopt 17 bills sent by the Government of Burundi.

Those bills are the following:

1. Bill on Ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the Agreement amending for the second time the Partnership Agreement between the members of the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific States on the one hand and the European Community and its Member States on the other hand signed in Cotonou on June 23, 2000 and amended for the first time in Luxembourg on June 25, 2005;

• Bill on Ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the Agreement on the Establishment of the East African Standby Force;

• Bill on the accession by the Republic of Burundi to the 1954 Convention relating to the status of stateless persons;

• Bill on the accession by the Republic of Burundi to the 1961 Convention on the reduction of cases of statelessness;

• Bill amending Law No. 1/21 of December 31, 2010 amending Law No. 1/15 of April 29, 2006 on the statute of officers of the National Defense Force of Burundi;

• Bill amending Law No. 1/20 of December 31, 2010 amending Law No. 1/16 of April 29, 2006 on the statute of non-commissioned officers of the National Defense Force of Burundi;

• Bill amending Law No. 1/19 of December 31, 2010 amending Law No. 1/17 of April 29, 2006 on the statute of troops of the National Defense Force of Burundi;

• Draft organic law revising Organic Law No. 1/04 of February 20, 2017 on the missions, organization, composition, instruction, conditions of service and functioning of the National Defense Force of Burundi;

• Bill ratifying the grant agreement for the financing of the Support Project for Productive Social Nets and Jobs (MERANKABANDI II) granted by the World Bank through the International Development Association (IDA);

1. Bill on the ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the revised General Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Government of the Republic of Burundi;

1. Bill on the ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the agreements on the recruitment of workers between the Government of the Republic of Burundi and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;

1. Bill on the ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the agreements on the recruitment of domestic workers between the Government of the Republic of Burundi and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;

1. Bill on the ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the agreement in the field of education between the Government of the Republic of Burundi and the Government of the Federal Republic of Brazil;

1. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi and the International Development Association in favor of the Covid19 preparedness and response project in Burundi – Additional Funding;

1. Bill on the ratification, by the Republic of Burundi, of the Additional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights relating to the rights of persons with disabilities;

1. Bill on the ratification, by the Republic of Burundi, of the Additional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights relating to the rights of the elderly;

1. Bill on the statute of the Parliament staff

Honorable Senators;

Distinguished guests;

1. After learning about the activities that await us and many others which could possibly be added, we must continue to carry out such activities, especially those related to the development of the country and the well-being of citizens, as we usually do. We will always have to stay with the population whenever necessary to respond to their concerns.

1. We will urge citizens to be aware of the laws which will be passed and we will represent them to the government for their well-being. We urge them, more particularly the youth and women, to follow the government’s plans for them, in order to apply for loans from development banks set up for them.

1. We will continue to organize oral question sessions for members of the Government so that they can answer questions raised by our fellow citizens during this recess period as provided for in Article 205 of the Constitution.

• To conclude, we would like to thank you for having left aside your usual occupations to come and support us during this event; We wish you a safe return to your daily activities, and we take this opportunity to solemnly declare open the ordinary session of activities for the month of April.

Thank you

God bless you!