SUMMARY REPORT OF THE PLENARY SESSION OF OCTOBER 15, 2024

In the year two thousand and twenty-four, on the fifteenth day of October, the senators gathered in the hemicycle of the Senate for the 209th plenary session of the sixth legislature under the aegis of the Honorable Denise NDADAYE, First Deputy-Speaker of the Senate to debate an oral question addressed to the Minister of East African Community Affairs, Youth, Sports and Culture.

The work of this session saw the participation of 26 senators and a Government Representative, Ambassador Gervais ABAYEHO. The session began, as usual, with a prayer at 10:03.am.

Opening the session, the First Deputy -Speaker of the Senate first welcomed the honorable senators present and presented them with greetings from the Right Honorable Speaker of the Senate who is on a working mission abroad.

Then, after a word of welcome addressed to the guest of the day, the floor was granted to him to answer the question before moving on to questions from the general debate for clarifications.

Asked when the law governing the National Youth Council will see the light of day, the Minister replied that the text which will be transmitted to the Council of Ministers is at the finalization stage at the ministry level.

The countries of the East African Community have undertaken the project of establishing a single constitution governing the community. The honorable senators wanted to know the stage of development of this law. To this concern of elected officials, Ambassador Gervais ABAYEHO indicated that it is almost at its starting phase. The team of constitutional experts set up is at the stage of gathering the grievances of everyone in the member countries of the community. 

Regarding what is being done to ensure that French is recognized as an official working language in the East African Community, given that all official documents and recruitment tests do not have a version in French language, the Government Representative explained that this situation will be resolved with the adoption of the treaty currently being revised. However, the interpreter service has been put in place to facilitate understanding of each other during the meetings organized.

Regarding whether the construction of Intwari Stadium meets the international standards required by FIFA, the Minister responded in the affirmative. He specifies that FIFA experts are involved at all stages.

As for whether there would not be other projects to build modern playing fields for other disciplines, the Government Representative gave the example of the Olympic stadium project which will be built in Mugamba, the project rehabilitation of the department’s field for basketball and volleyball as well as a project to build an ARENA with a donation from FIBA.

Wanting to know if the Burundians would have investment projects in the countries of the sub-region as others do here, the Minister responded in the affirmative, giving the example of the FOMI company established in Tanzania.

Concerning the wish of elected officials to restructure the organization of the National Palace and provide it with the equipment and means necessary for its operation in order to promote Burundian culture, Ambassador Gervais ABAYEHO embraced the idea by agreeing to organize consultation sessions with all partners.

The session, which took place in a climate of total understanding, was closed at 2:4 p.m. with a prayer.