The Speaker of the National Assembly congratulates His Excellency Evariste Ndayishimiye who has been appointed to join the Bureau of the African Union, as 3rd Vice-Chairman. This was on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 on the sidelines of the solemn closing speech of the ordinary parliamentary session of December 2023. For the Right Honorable Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe, the National Assembly is proud, because it is a consecration of the leadership of the Father of the Burundian Nation. The appointment, he said, is important because it means that Burundi will ensure, in three years, the chairmanship of the African Union. Thus, he added, little by little, Burundi is regaining its place in the concert of nations.

In total, six bills were passed during this parliamentary session, which was also active in monitoring the Government’s action.

For example, on December 16, 2023, in accordance with Article 168 of the Constitution of Burundi, the National Assembly and the Senate, meeting in congress, followed the presentation of the annual action plan of the government, made by the Prime Minister, Lieutenant General of Police Gervais Ndirakobuca. The Prime Minister also returned, on February 23, 2023, to present, still before the Parliament gathered in Congress, the report of the implementation of the Government program for the first semester, fiscal year 2022-2023.

The plenary session of February 21, 2023 was devoted to oral questions with debate to three members of the Government. These were the Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, the Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock and the Minister of Interior, Community Development and Public Security. These questions followed the presentation of the report of the visits of the Commission of Public Accounts and Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning, during the period from January 19 to February 10, 2023 and discontinuously, in order to evaluate the adequacy of the projects of the village cooperatives compared to those registered in the communal plans of community development. These visits were carried out in all the provinces of the country, at the rate of two communes per province, and were preceded by working visits, from January 17 to 19, 2023, to the National Agency for the Promotion and Regulation of Cooperative Societies in Burundi, ANACOOP in French acronym, to the National Communal Investment Fund, FONIC in French acronym, and to the General Directorate of Community Development and Decentralization.

While thanking the distinguished guests for coming to mark their unwavering support to the activities of the National Assembly, the Rt. Hon. Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe regretted that towards the end of this session pending closure, the National Assembly has unfortunately lost one of its staff members, Mr. Pierre Claver Baryamwabo, who died unexpectedly on February 17, 2023, at the King Khaled Hospital in Kamenge. The National Assembly expressed its sincere condolences to the family of the deceased, wishing his soul to rest in peace.