Capacity Building Support To Parliament Coordinated By Hida
In line with the capacity building support to Parliament, on 12 September 2006, at 9.00 a.m., HIDA with the support of the World Bank organized a half day training workshop for chairpersons and vice chairpersons of oversight committees from the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Senior technical personnel of the parliament were also in attendance. The World Bank was represented by the Task Team Leader of the Public Sector Capacity Building Project, Ms. Stefanie Teggemann.
The workshop was organized with the following objectives: expose participants to parliamentary practices in similar countries; discuss several advances made by African parliaments in recent years; generate debate on specific programme activities for Rwanda ; develop consensus among parliamentarians (Senators and Members of Parliament) and their staff on World Bank/ HIDA activities for the next twelve month period.
The workshop was officially opened by His Excellency, Vincent Biruta, the President of the Senate. His Excellency, Alfred Mukezamfura, the President of the Chamber of Deputies also graced the occasion.
The key presentation was delivered by Mr. John K. Johnson, who is an expert in parliamentary matters and has worked with legislatures and international organizations for over 20 years. His presentation centred on “Strengthening Parliaments in Sub – Saharan Africa.” Mr. Johnson illustrated his presentation anchoring on examples of approach to legislation, oversight, policy analysis and coordination, using scenarios from various countries in Africa and America .
The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist (M&ES) at HIDA, Mr. Emmanuel Rutsimba, presented major identified areas of capacity building interventions aimed at strengthening parliament. These interventions are supported by the World Bank and African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and include the following: executive training on the role of parliament; joint training of parliamentarians, journalists, and parliamentary staff on the role of parliament in budget approval and oversight; outreach campaign of the parliament to keep the public continuously informed about the work of the parliament; collaboration with the civil society on how to engage them in the process of legislation; support the establishment of a research unit; support provision of resources for the parliamentary library and strengthen the communication and networking facilities
Questions and discussions at the workshop focused on capacity issues of government oversight and how it can best be conducted; budget approval and what it entails; internal disciplinary systems; constituent development fund; policy formulation; possible capacity building support and research on legislation.
In his closing remarks, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Hon. Alfred Mukezamfura reminded members to translate the broader ideas highlighted into implementable actions. He acknowledged efforts by HIDA and World Bank to strengthen the Parliament.
