President Pierre Nkurunziza has called on EAC citizens to invest more in their communities by participating in development initiatives and to re-double efforts towards free enterprise as a pre-requisite for economic development.
The President made the remarks over the weekend when he led EALA legislators and hundreds of local people in construction of a stadium during the Ibikomwa Biterambere (Community works for development), held in Buganda District, Cibitoke Province, 60 km north-west of Bujumbura.
President Nkurunziza remarked that though the region’s development was on track, its citizens were capable of further charting their own destiny. The Head of State urged people of all standing in the society to contribute to development.
“The participation of all is necessary and I want to appeal to everyone: legislators, religious leader, government officials, the youth as well as opinion leaders and stakeholders to play their part”, the Head of State said while calling for a change of mindset.
President Nkurunziza noted that Burundi had gained stability since joining the EAC and was on the right path owing to the tremendous socio-economic reforms taking place in the country.
“Since we took over government in 2005, we have built 1900 primary and secondary schools out of a total 2500 constructed since independence in 1962. This shows that peace is key for development”, he remarked.
The President congratulated the people of Buganda district for participating in the construction of the stadium. He remarked that sports was vital for health and implored EALA to strive to play a football match against the local community when the project is completed.
The Speaker of EALA, Rt. Hon Margaret Nantongo Zziwa called for social cohesion as a means to ensuring unity in the region and hailed citizens of Burundi for contributing to development. She remarked that EALA was committed to development and would support any community initiatives in earnest.
In attendance were the Minister for EAC, Republic of Burundi, Hon Leontine Nzeyimana, Hon Abdulla Sadaalla, Deputy Minister for EAC, United Republic of Tanzania, EALA Members and Members of the Burundi National Assembly, led by their Deputy Speaker, Hon Mo-Mamo Karegwa.
The Stadium whose construction started in August 2011 is an initiative of the people living in Buganda district who have been involved in construction through their own donations and initiatives. The land on which the stadium is built was also offered by the Community.
The 6,000 seater capacity stadium is expected to serve the people from the region providing them with an opportunity to engage in sporting and cultural activities. According to the Engineer-in-charge of the project, Ndabayirushimana Augustine, the works are expected to be completed in the next three months. At the moment, a local team, Gisenyi FC participates in the National League and it is hoped that once the stadium is complete, the team shall have a home ground.
Later on in the day, the legislators visited and inspected the Rwegura Hydroelectric project in Kayanza Province. The Director General of the Project, Pascal Ndayishimiye revealed that at full capacity, the plant generates and contributes about 18 Megawatts of power to the national grid. At the moment however, the dam has suffered a significant drop of water by about seven metres, occasioned by the harsh climatic conditions prevailing in the country.
The Speaker reiterated the need for conservation of the environment and appealed to the residents to conserve water and to plant more trees. She urged the EAC to speedily implement the Power Master Plan to ensure sufficient power was available to region.
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For more information, contact
Bobi Odiko,
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East African Legislative Assembly,
Tel: +255-27-2508240,
Cell: +255-787-870945, +254-733-718036
Email: BOdiko@eachq.org, Web: https://www.eala.org
