SPEECH DELIVERED BY RIGHT HONOURABLE EMMANUEL SINZOHAGERA, SPEAKER OF THE SENATE OF BURUNDI, DURING THE SOLEMN OPENING OF THE ORDINARY PARLIAMENTARY SESSION OF AUGUST 2024

Honourable First Deputy Speaker of the Senate;

Honourable Second Deputy Speaker of the Senate;

Honourable Senators;

Your Excellencies Members of the Government;

Mister Governor of the province Gitega;

Dear Representatives of the judicial authorities;

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

Dear Representatives of International Organizations in Burundi;

Mister Administrator of the Gitega Commune

Dear Representatives of the Defense and Security Forces;

Dear Representatives of the press;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and gentlemen;

1. First of all, let us praise God, our Creator, who has given us the grace to wake up this morning, and who has guided us to this place after having accompanied us throughout this month devoted to parliamentary recess. Please join us in acclaiming Him!

2. We had met in this Hemicycle on June 29 of this same year during the closing of the ordinary parliamentary session of April, and we convened to meet again at the beginning of August to open the ordinary parliamentary session of August 2024, in accordance with the constitution of the Republic of Burundi in its articles 179 and 190.

3. We warmly welcome you, Dear guests, among us. We sincerely thank you for having responded to our invitation despite your multiple obligations. Your presence among us clearly shows that you care about our Institution and the actions it undertakes for the benefit of the population. We will duly take your valuable advice into consideration in the fulfillment of our missions, since “Two heads are better than one. “ 

Honourable senators;

Distinguished Guests; 

4. During the parliamentary recess that we have just ended, we, members of the Senate Bureau, visited the provinces of Rutana, Ruyigi, Cankuzo, Kirundo, Mwaro, Makamba, Bujumbura as well as Bujumbura City.

During that period, we met the population during community development work. These visits were also a good opportunity for us to listen to the grievances of the people and raise awareness among the population to change their mindset with a view to directing their development projects towards the vision of Burundi as an emerging country by 2024 and a developed country by 2060. Wherever possible, we left them material support as a contribution to the construction of public infrastructure.

5. During these visits, we called on the population to love their homeland, and to work for its development. We appealed to them for the education of their children, the planting of coffee and avocado trees, the cultivation in the marshes especially during this dry season, the preservation of the harvest, etc.

Since those holidays coincided with the students’ summer holidays, we seized this opportunity to raise awareness among them to massively participate in the work initially planned, which consisted of making bricks, tracing contour lines and planting trees to protect the environment.

6. Furthermore, as our country organized a general census of the population, housing and property scheduled from August 16 until September 7 of this year, we have raised awareness among the population everywhere where we went, to be counted and to answer all the questions without evasiveness. We explained to them that the objective of this census is to know the size of the population and their properties, and thus be able to make forecasts taking into account the figures obtained.

7. With a view to supporting the initiatives of private companies, the Speaker of the Senate visited, on July 23^rd the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Centre located in the Kabezi commune, in the province of Bujumbura. This Centre operates in various areas such as education, health, the social affairs, tourism, etc. This visit was a good opportunity to observe the achievements of this Centre and to raise awareness among its managers to continue their efforts in close collaboration with the administration in order to allow the population to have access to drinking water and electricity.

8. Regarding the participation in national celebrations and other official ceremonies to which we have been invited, Burundi Senate fully subscribes to the saying which states that “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” It is in this logic that the members of the Senate Bureau, other Senators, and senior executives of this institution joined other Burundians to commemorate the 62^nd anniversary of Burundi’s Independence. The ceremonies took place in the Political Capital of Burundi, Gitega, on July 1, 2024, under the high patronage of His Excellency the President of the Republic.

On July 7, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Burundi, the Senate Speaker took part in the priestly ordination and convocation of the mysteries ceremonies, organized by the Diocese of Ruyigi in the parish Gishungo. This trip was beneficial in perpetuating good collaboration between the Senate and the Catholic Church because “no man is an island.”

Honourable senators;

Distinguished Guests; 

9. During this parliamentary recess that we have just completed, senators also did not fold their arms. In addition to the visits carried out among the populations to collect their grievances, they also participated in the various meetings to which they were invited.

On July 16, 2024, in Bujumbura Town, the 1^st Deputy Speaker of the Senate and other women senators took part in a meeting which brought together the women leaders of the Parliament of Burundi. The participants in this meeting discussed the ways and means of carrying out advocacy in favour of women so that they should be placed in high decision-making bodies, under electoral and communal law, without forgetting inclusive development.

10. Other activities were organized by the Senate of Burundi. The members of the special committee responsible for implementing the decisions taken by the Senate and collecting the grievances of the population carried out a visit in Ntahangwa commune in Bujumbura Town, to resolve the land disputes observed there.

In the framework of capacity building for senators and support staff of this institution, the Senate sent a delegation to Arusha, Tanzania, from July 23 to 27, to participate in a regional meeting to strengthen the capacities of the Parliaments of the East African Community, on the monitoring and drafting of summary reports related to climate change.

Honourable senators;

Distinguished Guests; 

11. During this ordinary parliamentary session of August 2024 that we are opening, in accordance with article 163 of the Constitution of the Republic of Burundi, we will analyze eight bills which read as follows:

1. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the agreement between the Government of the Republic of Benin and the Government of the Republic of Burundi on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, official, service and ordinary passports;

2. Bill governing Special Economic Zones in Burundi;

3. Organic bill revising organic law No. 1/20 of August 3, 2019 on the organization and functioning of the Constitutional Court as well as the monitoring procedure before it;

4. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the Protocol amending the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed in Montreal on October 6, 2016;

5. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the convention on the suppression of unlawful acts directed against international civil aviation signed on September 10, 2010 in Beijing;

6. Bill on ratification of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (Beijing Protocol of 2010);

7. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the protocol amending the convention on offenses and certain other acts occurring on board aircraft;

8. Bill on ratification by the Republic of Burundi of the Constitutive Charter of the Group of Seven Plus (g7+).

Honourable senators;

Distinguished Guests; 

12. In addition to these bills that we will examine, many other activities are available to us. This concerns in particular the control of government action and the continuation of visits to the population. We urge Honourable senators to prepare to work diligently. Let us therefore get to work without delay and support the projects and good initiatives of His Excellency the Head of State. May this session be characterized by courage and dedication!

13. Before closing our remarks, we would like to take this opportunity to warmly thank His Excellency the President of the Republic, Friend of the youth, for the visits called “INKEBUZO” (wink), which he carried out throughout the country to meet the population made up mainly of young people, provide them with advice and support them in their development projects. We hope that these visits will produce results likely to improve the lives of households and families, the foundation of the nation.

14. We also thank the Government for the efforts it is making. We would cite in particular the search for a solution to the shortage of fuel as well as other common commodities, the purchase of the corn harvest from farmers via ANAGESSA, the provision of fertilizer to farmers on time and at an affordable price. This shows that the Government cares about the well-being of Burundians. “Maternal love is the least sentimental of feelings.” 

During these difficult times that the country is going through, we urge the population to continue fighting against those who take advantage of this situation and hide or increase the prices of products that are already rare on the market.

Honourable senators;

Distinguished Guests; 

15. During this period of the ordinary session of August, we continue the work of verifying the implementation of the laws passed and the recommendations made.

In addition, we are going to invite different Ministers to convey to them the grievances which were submitted to us by population during the parliamentary recess.

We will also ensure that activities related to preparations for the growing season A are progressing well, by checking if fertilizers and selected seeds reach farmers on time.

16. To conclude, we solemnly declare open the ordinary parliamentary session of August, this August 1, 2024. We wish every success to the Honorable Senators for the conduct of this session. As for you, dear guests, we wish you to return to your various occupations in peace and serenity.

Thank you for your kind attention!

May God bless you!