BUJUMBURA, October 11th (ABP) – The Prime Minister of Burundi, Gervais Ndirakobuca, led a meeting on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, in Bujumbura, on the implementation of the law on the new administrative division, during which he stressed the urgent need to amend existing laws and to draft texts to accompany the new communal law, with a view to adapting it to Organic Law N° 1/05 of March 16, 2023 on the determination and delimitation of provinces, communes, zones and villages and/or districts in the Republic of Burundi.
The meeting was attended by ministers or their representatives, permanent secretaries, inspectors-general, heads of department at the Prime Minister’s Office, directors-general and heads of department at the Ministry of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security, to name but a few.
Minister Ndirakobuca pointed out that the commune will be one of the country’s main administrative entities, and that it must therefore be equipped with everything it needs to effectively implement the vision of Burundi, an emerging country by 2040 and a developed country by 2060.
“The commune administrator will no longer be a member of the commune council; instead, he or she will be invited by the commune council to answer various questions relating to the development and management of the commune,” the Prime Minister pointed out, adding, moreover, that the commune should be headed by an administrator with a good command of the sector of administration.
For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security, Martin Niteretse, pointed out that in developed countries, development began with the commune, adding that “we need to think globally and act locally”.
Most speakers placed particular emphasis on amending certain laws and texts before they become obsolete after the 2025 elections, to bring them into line with the new law on communal administration.
They also insisted on the proper elaboration of Communal Development Plans (PCDC), adding that effective decentralization is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development, from the bottom up.
According to Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca, the legal departments of the various ministries should indicate all laws requiring amendment before the end of that year. He therefore recommended that the permanent secretaries and inspectors general of the ministries meet on October 10, 2024, to draw up an inventory of all texts, laws, decrees and ministerial ordinances requiring amendment, and submit the report to the Prime Minister’s Office by Monday, October 14, 2024 at the latest, for follow-up and coordination.
He also recommended that the Minister of the Civil Service, Labour and Employment draw up a law on the communal civil service as soon as possible.