RPF Political Bureau discusses judicial matters

President Paul Kagame, who is also the Chairman of Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), yesterday called on leaders, especially those in judicial sector, to spearhead the fight against corruption and injustice.He was addressing members of the ruling RPF Political Bureau at Petit Stade in Remera, Kigali.Kagame noted that in order to succeed in the war against corruption, the campaign should start with jurists who can play a leading role against injustices since it is their primary role.He said RPF Political Bureau meetings are mainly aimed at re-focusing on the past achievements and planning for the future.Kagame reminded party members that it is their primary obligation to contribute to the development of the country and encouraged them to strive for the interests of the general public. The Chairman expressed interest in seeing a rise in the number of the good performers, telling those in attendance that if they wanted to progress, they needed to put national interests ahead of their individual interests. President Kagame said that whatever leaders do has a big impact on the people and cautioned leaders against any form of malpractices.He reminded Party members to lead by example otherwise it would affect the national agenda of ensuring the welfare of the people and the development of the nation. During the same meeting, the Minister of Justice, Tharcisse Karugarama, presented a detailed report of the justice sector since the 2000 judicial reforms. He said the judicial sector had now won the trust of the people. “We have put in place a number of reforms. The independence of the judiciary is guaranteed; the prosecution is also independent and has financial and administrative autonomy,” he noted. “We are trying to clean up the backlog, working on cases of Genocide fugitives we want transferred to Rwanda, as well as empowering the processes of access to justice”. On corruption concerns raised by the Party Chairman, Karugarama said that mechanisms had been put in place to punish judicial officers involved in corruption. During the meeting, Domitille Mukantaganzwa, the Executive Secretary of the National Jurisdiction for Gacaca Courts, presented a progress report of the courts, saying that ever since they started ten years ago, they had tried about 2 million cases and used Rwf 29 billion. Gacaca courts are expected to officially close business on June 18, this year. Among judicial challenges that were tabled during the meeting include delay in executing court orders and cases of some court bailiffs who have been dragged to court for not implementing court decisions. Meanwhile, the RPF yesterday approved a proposal to amend the party governance laws so as to integrate youth representation at all levels. During the same meeting, RPF Commissioner, Marie Claire Mukasine, announced plans to celebrate the 25 years of the RPF’s existence which is scheduled to take place in series of events, starting from the lowest administrative level. The celebration is expected to cost around Rwf 300 million and the main event is scheduled for Dec 15.