Parliamentary report exposes rot in PSP

PARLIAMENT - A parliamentary report compiled by the Senates standing committee on Political Affairs and Good Governance has exposed Genocide ideologies in the Prosperity and Solidarity Party (PSP). The report that was compiled on the request of the Ministry of Local Government to revise and probably revalidate political parties in the country to ensure they are operating under the law was released to the lawmakers on Tuesday. The committee headed by Senator Joseph Karemera indicates that former Senator Stanley Safari who also headed PSP steered divisionism and genocide ideologies within the party. “The party was divided into two factions and one of them was headed by Safari who fled the country and is on record having said that for his party to be registered he had to enlist many Tutsis,” Karemera said. Safari went missing last month following a Gacaca court case that pinned him on Genocide. He was later sentenced in absentia to life sentence. Karemera told the Senate that PSP members also alleged that Safari and his faction promoted divisionism within the party especially when they kept saying that the party had many Tutsis whom they never wished to work with. “Party members told us that on several occasions, Safari said that he wanted his children to be members of Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) so that they can get top posts in the government,” Karemera revealed. Safari, was expelled from the Senate because of his prolonged absence. His faction is alleged by their opponents of having strongly criticized all government policies and inciting hate based on ethnicity within the party, highlights Karemera’s report. Said to be part of Safari’s faction is the youngest Member of Parliament, Dumas Alexandre Ashinzwuwera. Other issues highlighted by Karemera’s committee include the current state of the Democratic Popular Union (UDPR).whose headquarters has no flag and lacks uniqueness in their awareness programmes, which is a legal obligation. Some of the recommendations proposed by the Senatorial Committee included requesting the parties to review their administrative structures and solve internal wrangles. PSP was given a grace period of three months by the committee to solve their internal wrangles. However Senators questioned the authority of the standing committee to issue a grace period to a party a decision that is only taken by the a general session. His intervention came after the president of the Senate requested members to consider the issue of divisionism and negative ideology as a pressing one. However, in his response Karemera said that Rwanda is still a young democracy and that such parties still need tolerance and strong support for them to grow. The Upper Chamber later reached a consensus that called for intensive investigations of PSP so that whoever is involved in any form of malpractice is punished. Ends

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Parliamentary report exposes rot in PSP