Visiting Sierra Leone Speaker addresses Rwandan Parliament

Urges MPs to ably represent electorate The Speaker of the Sierra Leonean Parliament has called upon Rwandan MPs to take their work serious and be more accountable to the people who voted them into power. Justice Abel Strong made the remarks yesterday while addressing the Rwandan parliament. He was accompanied by a delegation of women MPs from his parliament. “We both have a mandate to serve the people who elected us to parliament, I urge you to take your obligations very serious and be more accountable to those who sent you to represent them,” Strong told the House. “If we fail, we are failing the people who delegated us; we should have a reasonable way of justifying our seats”. Strong who is on a study tour with a 17-man parliamentary delegation from Sierra Leone, said that before he left his country, he was briefed by his President on areas of focus so as he could observe and pick lessons from Rwanda. “I am surprised by the way this country has decided to put aside the dirty past and moved on; what happened here is terribly shocking, but the most interesting part is that Rwanda is determined to reconstruct,” Strong observed. He said that his team noticed that Rwanda has made an effort in planning for a brighter future and that his country would emulate the systems of administration and governance from Rwanda. “We will see how best we can implement what we have observed,” added Strong. After addressing the parliament, Strong led his delegation in a meeting with the Forum for Rwanda Women Parliamentarians. The Sierra Leone delegation arrived in Parliament after meeting several officials from the Local Government Ministry and is also scheduled to meet with several government officials, members of the civil society and the business community in Rwanda. Ends

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Visiting Sierra Leone Speaker addresses Rwandan Parliament