Rwandan senate president resigns before censure motion
Wednesday September 17 2014
The President of the Rwandan Senate Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo has resigned September 17, 2014. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA
The President of the Rwandan Senate Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo has resigned with immediate effect.
In hierarchy, the president of the Senate is second to the President.
Dr Ntawukuriryayo quit during an extraordinary session which was convened to censure him after 15 Senators wrote to the house requesting his resignation over alleged misconduct.
His deputy Bernard Makuza, who took over to conduct the house business, thanked Dr Ntawukuriryayo for taking the first step to resign before the censure motion.
However Senator Tito Rutaremara said that it was important that reasons for the planned censure be made public, stating that the Senate bureau was no longer functional under Ntawukuriryayo's leadership.
He is also accused of imposing decisions on the house as well as influence peddling.
Rutaremara, an RPF stalwart, said that senators were concerned that Ntawukuriryayo was acting on his own, disregarding laid down procedures, and that his conduct has been of concern to President Paul Kagame.
Prof Chrysologue Karangwa, another senator, told the house that Ntawukuriryayo abused his office and that he disregarded advice from the top leadership of the country to change.
"He was given enough time to atone his conduct but to no avail. Whatever decisions reached were disregarded by him. He failed to work with the rest of senate leadership, putting the house in disrepute," Prof Karangwa said.
Senate's second vice president Jean de Arc Gakuba said that Ntawukuriryayo failed to coordinate work at the Senate with fellow leaders, making decisions unilaterally including commissioning an audit whose report was never discussed by the house but signed by Ntawukuriryayo.
24 Senators out of 25 who attended the session voted in favour of the resignation while one abstained.
Ntawukuriryayo, in his parting shot said that he took the personal decision to quit and thanked those he worked with. He however remains in the house as a senator.
Ntawukuriryayo, who previously served as the Minister of Health and deputy speaker of the Lower Chamber of Deputies prior to taking over senate presidency is the secretary-general of Social Democratic Party (PSD).