Summary report of the plenary session of October 12, 2021 on the consideration and adoption of an organic bill amending the organic law n ° 1/03 of February 20, 2017 on the missions, organization, composition and functioning of the Burundi National Police

The year two thousand and twenty-one, on the twelfth day of October, the senators met in the Senate hemicycle at Gitega for the 59^th plenary session of the sixth legislature to consider and adopt the organic bill on modification of the organic law n ° 1/03 of February 20, 2017 on missions, organization, composition and functioning of the Burundi national police.

This session which was chaired by the Right Honorable Speaker of the Senate, Mr. Emmanuel SINZOHAGERA, was attended by 30 senators and a representative of the Governments, namely the Minister of the Interior, Community Development and public security, Mr. Gervais NDIRAKOBUCA.  As usual, it began with a prayer, at 10:26 a.m.

Opening the session, the Senate Speaker first welcomed the honorable senators and then invited the Minister having public security in his attributions to present the preamble of the bill mentioned above.

In his presentation, Minister Gervais NDIRAKOBUCA specified that the bill under consideration comes to correct some errors and imperfections noted in the law in force. For the Government Representative, this bill also brings innovations that will allow the Burundi national police to be more operational and to intervene more quickly in order and security maintaining, due to the fact that all entities and command posts are decentralized and well organized.

In addition, this bill exhaustively details the missions entrusted to each unit to such an extent that there would be no overlap in terms of intervention. He ended his presentation by specifying that this bill includes 9 main innovations and 6 titles divided into 12 chapters.

After the preamble, His Excellency the Speaker of the Senate gave the floor to the Chairman of the Standing Committee in charge of political, diplomatic, defense and security issues, Honorable Gad NIYUKURI, to present the analysis report of the said bill.

He also gave the honorable senators an opportunity to speak in general debate and ask clarification questions.

To the question to know whether there would not be a law to be drafted in relation with the management of retirees in the context of properly maintaining security, the representative of the Government responded that it requires a patriotic education and that the retiree should be a role model in society since he is supposed to know the law, he added.

Regarding the collaboration between the National Police and the Burundian justice, the Minister well informed the senators that this collaboration is good and that the material to be used to properly fulfill the mission is available at each level.

As for the senators concern that there are faults committed by some security officials and that sometimes the latter are not punished by the law and according to the acts taken, the Minister said that such cases are observed but that they are trying to prevent only the crime rate.

As to how the government of Burundi appreciates the National Central Office of Interpol in Bujumbura, the Minister specified that Interpol of Burundi is working with other countries in the world but that it has insufficient equipment, which is a handicap for the country. However, the warrants are sent to those concerned, he added.

To the question to know the functioning of the Anti-Corruption Brigade given that there are police officers but also civilians who work there together, the Minister replied that the services are placed together and that this has no drawbacks since this partnership already existed even before, he clarified.

To the senators’ concern as to why the traffic police work properly during the day and that during the evening the police are only placed around the bridges, the government representative replied that it is the problem of the number which is  insufficient and that in the evening those in charge of security worry more about places like nightclubs. He further asked senators to continue to raise the population’s awareness, explaining that it is above all this same population that must take care of their security.

Regarding the fact that there are drivers of vehicles or motorcycles who exceed the number while the police are at work but that sanctions are not imposed on those concerned, the Minister replied that this is linked to the problem of illegal parking along the roads and all of the police officers do not have receipt.

To the question to know the difference between the mission allocated to the service in charge of criminal affairs and that of documentation, the representative of the Government replied that according to Article 119, the sub-service in charge of documentation deals more with the evolution of crime according to a precise period either in one month, in three months or in 6 months and that the service in charge of criminal affairs is responsible for studying the nature of the crime, he insisted.

After the adoption of the amendments that had been formulated, this bill was put to a vote and was unanimously adopted by the 39 voting senators, 30 of whom were present and 9 proxies.

Before starting the chapter on communications, Right Honorable Speaker of the Senate invited the senators to elect the Chairman of the Quaestors College. Thus, Honorable NZEYIMANA Rose was elected by the 39 senators including 30 present and 9 proxies to replace Honorable NDADAYE Denise currently First Deputy-speaker of Burundi Senate.

Concerning ​​communications, two communications were given to senators. For the first communication, the Speaker of the Senate informed the senators that the 61^st anniversary of the death of the Hero of Independence is scheduled for this Wednesday, October 13, 2021 and invited them to actively participate in those ceremonies.

Finally, Right Honorable Speaker of the Senate informed the senators that Honorable NJEBARIKANUYE Spès-Caritas is currently assigned to the Standing Committee III.

The session, which took place in a complete understanding, was closed at 1:46 p.m. with a prayer.