Members of the Upper House of Parliament Tuesday approved the draft revised law governing political organisations and politicians. They gave a nod to the legislation during a plenary session of the House following a presentation by the Minister in the Office of the President, Judith Uwizeye. During the plenary, Uwizeye noted that the Law was revised to align certain provisions to the current provisions of the Constitution of Rwanda. She said that the main reason why it was necessary to update was the need to align it with the amended Constitution which was promulgated in 2015. The old law was based on the Constitution as promulgated in 2003. Among the adjustments are the financing of political party activities and sanctions for political parties that do not submit their financials to the Ombudsman among other offenses. The government is due to allocate money from the budget to fund all registered political organizations. Parties are banned from seeking funding from foreign donors. The new law also provides for modalities for political parties to benefit from state grants. “The current Organic Law doesn’t provide a wide range of administrative sanctions from which the institution in charge of political organizations is able to draw sanctions,” Minister Uwizeye said.
