Public Service minister apologizes to Senate

The Minister of Public Service, Anastase Murekezi, has apologized to the Senate for violating the constitution. Murekezi, defied the constitution in his handling of the appointment of Deogratius Harorimana, who was posted to head the Rwanda Institute of Administration and Management (RIAM). According to the constitution, the Senate was supposed to give Harorimana the go ahead to assume office, however, Murekezi went ahead and officiated at the handover ceremony prior to the Senate’s approval. Dr Vincent Biruta, the president of the Senate, said that the apology came after the house protested to Prime Minister Bernard Makuza over the anomaly. “The Senate protested to the Prime Minister in writing. He wrote back acknowledging that there was violation of law and the minister then wrote an apology letter to the Senate,” Biruta said. The revelation of how the constitution was violated came to the limelight after The New Times published a story indicating how the minister violated the constitution by installing Harorimana takeover as head of RIAM before he could be confirmed by the Senate. Subsequent to The New Times article, the Senate convened and Senators resolved to summon the Prime Minister to seek to know why the minister violated the constitution. “We have since decided not to summon the Prime Minister, since in the letter he wrote, he indicated that the error would not happen again and of course this was backed by the Minister’s apology,” Biruta said. According to the law, before heads of government parastatals assume office, they first have to be approved by the Senate. Ends

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Public Service minister apologizes to Senate