The General Assembly of the National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations (NFPO) has elected Frank Habineza and Athanasie Nyiragwaneza as the Forum’s spokesperson and vice spokesperson, respectively. Habineza is the Chairman of the Democratic Green party of Rwanda while Nyiragwaneza is a member of Social Democratic Party (PSD). They are both members of parliament. The forum brings together all the 11 political parties where they discuss pressing issues affecting the country and devise common solutions. For the next six months of their mandate, the lawmakers pledged to promote the Forum within and outside the country. “We’ll market the Forum to promote our democracy of consensus,” Habineza said after being elected. The Forum plans to construct a Rwf1.7 billion office building. “We hope we’ll have mobilised some significant resources in the next six months,” said Habineza. The Executive Secretary of the Forum, Oswald Burasanzwe, said, “The Forum is deeply rooted in the Arusha Peace Accords, which intended to bring about good politics in the country” he started. Before the elections, which were held on Thursday, the forum invited a delegation from the Ministry of Health to discuss the rising cases of drug abuse and delinquency among the youth. Dr PatrickNdimubanzi, the State Minister for Public and Primary Healthcare, said the ministry will commission research on the persistent issue of drug abuse among the youth. “We’re currently conducting research on what is the cause of increasing mental diseases but the politicians have also tasked us to look into the cause for the increasing desire for drugs among our youth” he said. He added that the ministry will continue working with the Forum and other institutions to solve health challenges. The Forum was initiated in 2003 to bring together politicians to discuss, among others, political strategies before taking them to the public, according to Burasanzwe. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
