MPs begin tour of northern and eastern regions

Members of Parliament yesterday resumed their tour of the countryside, where they will assess several issues, including latest progress in the fight against malnutrition, consequences of the severe drought that hit the eastern part of the country and other issues. The field-outreach programme, which will close on September 20, will mainly cover districts in Northern and Eastern provinces. Speaking to The New Times, MP Theoneste Karenzi, the deputy chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, said before the end of July, lawmakers toured Western and Southern provinces to assess the same issues. “This time we will focus on Northern and Eastern provinces. We take time and talk to the public and later consolidate a report for final adoption by the assembly,” he said. According to Maurice Kabandana, the director of communication at Parliament, the final report detailing the situation from all provinces will be consolidated and tabled before the Plenary, whose recommendations would then be forwarded to the executive for action. Impact assessment Last year, the Rwanda Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey EICV 2013/14, commissioned by the National Institute of Statistics, established that at least 38 per cent of children under age 5 were stunted or too short for their age. However, this was a major improvement, given that the previous year, the number stood at 51 per cent. The same report last year said wasting (being too thin for height), dropped to 2 per cent in 2014/15, while 9 per cent were underweight by 2014/15. In May, the Government launched a Rwf14bn five-year project dubbed, “Gikuriro,” targeting malnourished children. The legislators on tour will get local communities to express challenges facing their daily living conditions, which will inform the subsequent report by the lawmakers. “This exercise will offer an opportunity to MPs to mobilise the population and engage local authorities around key issues such as eradicating injustices, promoting education and tackling school dropout, upgrading sanitation and fighting malnutrition and under-nutrition,” Parliament said in a statement yesterday. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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MPs begin tour of northern and eastern regions