National Dialogue opens tomorrow

THE 2012 annual National Dialogue (Umushyikirano) is set for this Thursday at the Parliamentary Buildings in Kimihurura.As always, it will bring together central and local government officials, the civil society, members of the diplomatic corps, the private sector, as well as ordinary citizens, including Rwandans from the Diaspora.The two-day meeting, where leaders and citizens collectively take stock of the government’s performance for the past one year and set new goals, will be presided over by the Head of State, as required by the Constitution.Once again, the public will participate in the dialogue via live call-ins, and follow the proceedings on television and live stream on internet.They will also contribute ideas and pose questions through text messages as well as social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, according to the organisers.Addressing journalists yesterday, the Minister in charge of Cabinet Affairs, Protais Musoni, said it’s been a decade since the concept of the National Dialogue council was initiated and a lot has since been achieved .“Rwandans will collectively look at where the country was in the last ten years and where it is today, what has been achieved and how the achievements can be sustained,” said MusoniHe added that; “In the same meeting we will come up with strategies on how to make Rwanda a self reliant nation; in so doing, we intend to look at the expertise we have, strategise on how to equip the youth with skills and look for possible ways of how to raise funds to achieve this.”At the meeting, the Prime Minister is expected to present the outcomes on the issues that were presented in the National Dialogue of last year.According to Minister Musoni, government achieved 98 per cent of the set targets from last year’s convention.“The whole country will come together to discuss pertinent issues regarding the wellbeing of Rwandans,” said the minister.“We expect it to be highly interactive; to bring in Rwandans from all walks of life, who will be participating through calling in, or through the internet,” Musoni said.About 900 delegates have been invited to attend the meeting.