MPs begin final term

PARLIAMENT - Members of the Chamber of Deputies will today afternoon begin the last ordinary session for the Lower Chamber. With the next parliamentary elections set for September, the deputies now enter their final days in office. Deputy Speaker Yvonne Uwayisenga said MPs will continue to go about their business as usual until the House is dissolved to pave way for the next polls. On the agenda, the MPs will today review several bills returned from the Senate including the anti-terrorism bill, a draft law on the establishment of Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and the statute of public service. They will also discuss a draft law seeking to amend presidential and legislative elections. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Deputies has re-summoned the Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama to give explanations on what the Government was doing as a follow-up on embezzlement cases in some of its institutions. MPs in February rejected the minister’s verbal explanations and asked him to prepare a written response. Questions on how state funds are managed in state organs were largely brought to light by the Auditor General’s reports for 2003, 2004 and 2005. Karugarama is expected to tell the MPs what the relevant institutions were doing to punish culprits. Several bills are also up for discussion. Ends

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MPs begin final term