Address by His Excellency Right Honorable Emmanuel SINZOHAGERA, Speaker of Burundi Senate, opening the ordinary parliamentary session of April 2021

1. On behalf of the Senate Bureau and on my own behalf, I would like to thank the Almighty God who protected us during this month of recess, and here we are once again, all safe, gathered in this hemicycle. Let us applaud our Lord.

However, we are opening this session at a time when we have just lost One of our own, a True friend of Burundi, His Excellency Late President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr John Pombe Joseph Magufuli. Let us observe a minute’s silence in his memory ……Thank you.

2. This Thursday, April 01, 2021, the Senate proceeds to the solemn opening of the activities of April ordinary session, a third and last session of the year, in accordance with Article 190 of the Constitution which provides for the periods of the Senate’s ordinary sessions. We take this opportunity to thank all of you who, in spite of your multiple obligations, enhanced these ceremonies, and we welcome you in this hemicycle.

3. This month of recess has been a good opportunity to visit the population, work with them and listen to them. We also transmitted them some of the answers to their concerns; these answers had been collected after the clarifications of the government representatives during the oral questions.

Moreover, we supervised the implementation of the measures taken by the Government in accordance with Article 192. We are waiting for the reports that will be presented by the Honorable Senators in the coming days.

We discussed and recalled the role of the representatives of the population, what they expect from them, especially the role of the Head of the village in the country’s development. We also participated in the International Women’s Day on March 8. The theme was “Women’s leadership, source of inclusive development”.

Honorable Senators,

Distinguished guests,

4. We visited Bujumbura, Bubanza and Rumonge provinces, and we joined the population in the development activities. We also supported them with contributions to ensure that their activities are successfully carried out. We equally joined them in the harvesting work in the cooperatives of Bubanza province, and called on them to save the crops because “Fully belly, good sleep, but emptiness hurts”.

5. Like all other senators, members of the Bureau visited their constituencies to meet the population and join them in their activities. The Second Deputy-Speaker of the Senate, along with other parliamentarians elected in Ruyigi constituency, went to assist the victims of the torrential rains which damaged the fields and homes in Ruyigi commune, by providing them with food and metal sheets.

6. During the same recess, the Second Deputy-Speaker of the Senate, together with the First Deputy-Speaker of the National Assembly, visited the cooperatives of Ruyigi province to encourage the members of these cooperatives, provide them with pieces of advice and join them in the construction of public infrastructure.

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They also called on them to consolidate peace and security and fight against idleness in order to buckle down to community development activities.

7. In the framework of capacity building, senators and some Senate officials participated in a training workshop on the process of drafting and analyzing the budget law. They also took part in the training workshop for women parliamentarians on gender equality, transformative leadership, lawmaking and budgeting.

Honorable Senators,

Distinguished guests,

8. Regarding the strengthening of relations between Senates and International Organizations, Burundi Senate participated in the session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on the modalities of eradicating COVID-19. Barrier measures against this pandemic were taken.

9. Furthermore, the Senate took part in meetings organized by the World Conference of Parliaments, which focused on how States could make public health their concern by establishing related laws. Participants were informed that the United Nations will advocate on behalf of poor countries, for the cancellation or reduction of their debts.

Honorable Senators,

Distinguished guests,

10. We thank the population who are preparing for the enforcement, since October of this year, of the law on permanent keeping in sheds and prohibition of wandering for domestic animals and poultry in Burundi. We appeal to those who have not yet begun to prepare for it to do so properly, so that their livestock could soon be well fed and housed. This will allow them to earn manure and recoup the time they were spending looking after the cattle.

11. We thank the government which spares no effort to support the farmers, especially the corn growers by fixing the beneficial price of corn. We urge the population to closely monitor the compliance with this price. We would also like to call on the government to multiply even other crops that could be beneficial to the population.

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Honorable Senators,

Distinguished guests,

12. During this ordinary April session we are opening today, referring to article 193 of the Constitution of the Republic of Burundi, we will analyze and adopt 10 bills that the Government sent us. They are additional to others under analysis in the standing committees. Those bills are the following:

1. Bill fixing the State general budget for the 2021/2022 financial year;

2. Organic law reassigning the powers of the Anti-Corruption Court and its General Prosecutor’s Office as well as the reorganization of the Anti-Corruption Brigade;

3. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the agreement on the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea;

4. Bill revising the Investment Code in Burundi;

5. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the trade agreement between the Government of the Republic of Burundi and the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea;

6. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the cooperation agreement in the maritime and port transport sector between the Government of the Republic of Burundi and the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea;

7. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the reciprocal visa exemption agreement for holders of diplomatic and service passports between the Government of the Republic of Burundi and the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea;

8. Organic law on the missions, composition, organization and functioning of the National Security Council;

9. Bill amending the law n ° 1/06 of March 10, 2020 establishing and granting the status of supreme guide of patriotism in Burundi to President Pierre NKURUNZIZA;

10. Bill revising the Environmental Code of the Republic of Burundi.

Honorable Senators,

Distinguished guests,

13. We will continue the visits to all the communes, as usual, with the objective to raise the population’s awareness about buckling down to development activities, thus, the slogan of His Excellency Major General Evariste NDAYISHIMIYE, “May each person have something to eat and be bailed out” would be effective and all Burundians would develop.

Honorable Senators,

Distinguished guests,

14. Before closing our remarks, we once again reiterate our heartfelt thanks for your presence at these ceremonies. We hope that you will continue to support us whenever needed, to witness our achievements towards the population who mandated us.

15. We solemnly declare open the April ordinary parliamentary session, this Thursday, April 01, 2021.

Thank you,

God bless you.