WESTERN PROVINCE

RUSIZI — Jean-Pierre Turatsinze, the Mayor of Rusizi District, has been suspended for allegedly shunning a security meeting with Members of Parliament (MPs) early this month.

The decision giving the mayor 15 days away from his work was reached at an extraordinary meeting of the District Executive Committee which was held at Centre Pastoral in Kamembe sector, Rusizi district this week. The decision takes immediate effect.

According to resolutions, Turatinze was suspended because he refused to meet three MPs, Emmanuel Gatera, Esperance Mwiza and Mediatrice Uwiteguye who had visited the area to attend a security meeting.

The meeting was intended to discuss security issues in the region. The legislators, all members of the Security Commission in the Chamber of Deputies, later returned to Kigali without meeting the mayor.

As a consequence the three MPs later wrote a report indicating that the meeting did not take place because the mayor did not welcome them, something they referred to as contempt of Parliament. 

According to Joseph Bahenda, the President of Rusizi District Executive Committee, the mayor’s failure to meet the legislators was unprofessional and it amounted to disrespect.

In his defence, Turatsinze explained that he failed to show up because he had no prior knowledge of the said meeting and that he had another meeting at the provincial level which was held between the 4th and 8th of June.

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