Protais Musoni re-elected national chair of Pan-African Movement

Protais Musonihas been re-elected chair of the Pan African Movement (PAM – Rwanda) Chapter for the next three years. He has been leading the organisation since its re-establishment in Rwanda in 2015. Musoni was elected during the second National Congress of PAM Rwanda which took place Sunday at the Parliamentary Buildings. The elections of the bureau of PAM Rwanda saw Musoni re-elected chair after getting the majority vote from the about 800 participants who attended the congress. The elections also saw Henriette Umulisa and Ismael Buchanan elected as the Vice Chairpersons in charge of programmes and operations as well as finance and administration, respectively. Umulisa has also been serving in the same role. The congress agreed that the governing committee will, however, vote for the commissioners during an exclusive meeting to be organised in the coming days. The new committee will seek to advance the agenda of Pan-African Movement in Rwanda, which is to promote the virtues of unity, dignity, solidarity and the development of Rwandans and Africans, generally. “It is exciting to lead PAM Rwanda Chapter for the next term. I am honoured,” he said. The executive committee will particularly work to promote the several programmes and initiatives that the organisation has set out to do in Rwanda for the next three years. Under a three-year strategic plan, PAM Rwanda particularly wants to contribute to research on indigenous plants and advocate for the promotion of manufacturing of medicines; promote ‘consume what we produce campaign’ and promote ‘Ndi Umunyarwanda - Ndi Umunyafrica’ ideology. Musoni had earlier highlighted that PAM Rwanda Chapter will carry out a campaign to encourage Rwandans to use nationally produced products and services. “This would be done to help create more jobs, expand local investments, decrease negative trade balances, and reduce aid, among other things,” he said. Tito Rutaremara shares his remarcks during the congress at Parliament. Bernard Makuza, the president of the Senate, officiated at the congress. He told participants that it is important to work towards the unity of Africans, but that it will require collective commitment. “Building the unity of Africans requires us to understand why it is important to do so, and the collective commitment to realise this based on the examples of those who have been fighting for it,” he said. “The Africa we want must avoid anything that might make it hard for Africans to thrive, and instead, we must aspire to grow our continent to be recognised at the global scale,” he added. This year’s congress ran under the theme “Making the Pan-African Movement relevant to the people of Rwanda and Africa”, and it brought together government officials, Members of Parliament, youth and participants from other PAM chapters across Africa. Discussions revolved around making Pan-Africanism more relevant to different African countries’ contexts. Brian Tamuka Kagoro, a member of the governing council, Global Pan-African Movement, said that it is not enough to be African and just be proud of the fact. “We need to ensure that our Pan-Africanism is socially, economically, intellectually and politically relevant to our context. Our Pan-Africanism must be practical enough to meet our present and future needs,” he noted. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

News

Protais Musoni re-elected national chair of Pan-African Movement