Q & A: My job is challenging but it’s worth it – Speaker Mukantabana
TNT: What about the achievements in your oversight function?
RM: We exercise oversight according to a constitutional provision, which requires the Prime Minister to appear at least once during each ordinary session to brief Parliament on the work of the Executive. This year the Prime Minister focused mainly on agriculture, education, health, and more recently, energy. These sectors constitute the wheels of our country’s development agenda.
It was very interesting and helpful for Parliament. First of all, we want to know what is going on in the Executive. And then, it helps us follow up at the grassroots.
But we also met with three ministers; the ministers of foreign affairs, finance, and defence, on this issue of the conflict in eastern DRC. The information they gave Parliament was very helpful.
After that consultative meeting, we set up a committee to investigate the sources of the false allegations that Rwanda backs the (M23) rebels in that country.
Interesting that she brought it up. DR Congo and Rwanda's support is well documented and yet she persists in trying to sell the lie. New Times is very much a propaganda tool of the Rwandan authorities.
TNT: In June, MPs from both Chambers condemned MONUSCO (UN Mission in the Congo) for similar allegations against Rwanda, and called on the UN to investigate whether the Mission was breaching its mandate by allegedly conniving with negative forces like the FDLR militias blamed for the Genocide against the Tutsi. What do you hope to achieve through the committee you have set up?
RM: We expect an added value because as the ministers explained, this situation in DRC is not a situation created by Rwanda. It is not even a situation that will be solved by Rwanda. It is a DRC problem but we continue to ask ourselves why the international community blames the situation of DRC on Rwanda.
And the international community continues to point to all the evidence that catagorically proves Rwandan support for M23.
Even as our government has explained, and provided a thorough rebuttal with proof that Rwanda is not involved with the M23 rebellion, the international community continues to say that it is Rwanda [supporting the rebels]. We want to go deep, as Parliament, into the documentation, reports and so on, and make our own analysis of this situation and, thereafter, we will compile and analyse every related information – the documents and reports from the UN, other international organisations and the rebuttal by Rwanda to the UN, and then ascertain the real problem.
We are not challenging the explanations from the ministers, not at all. We want to make sure we have clarity on why the international community continues to harass Rwanda, as a country, over this situation in DRC.
The purpose of parliamentary democracy is of course for the parliament to scruitinise the actions of the executive, so one has to laugh at the assertion that the house ( parliament ) " is not challenging.... the ministers " but rather has adopted the role of a lap dog and denied the evidence of the international community.
TNT: One school of thought is that there are external (western) players who do not wish to see the DRC at peace because that would put their own interests in jeopardy. What is your take? Yes I have heard that school of thought articulated many times, I assume the western players refered to are the same western players that have suspended Rwandan aid for its support for M23.
RM: We want, particularly, to have a clear overview of this situation; digging deep will also help us, as parliamentarians, because through our parliamentary diplomacy we work with other parliaments and, maybe, other parliaments all over the world don’t even know what the real situation is or what is behind this situation.
Through parliamentary diplomacy, and using a report by the parliament, we can convince our counterparts in different forums, instead of using reports from other institutions. Now that is a novel idea, the parliament is going to dig deep and work with other parliaments to reveal to those parliaments what the situation is, whilst at the same time denying the reports of institutions like the UN Security Council. If that is orwellian enough for you, you have the even more comical situation that as of January 2013 Rwanda takes up the African seat on the Security Council, a body it clearly has no faith in but lobbied like hell to get elected to.
We want to make our own analysis of the situation and then meet other legislators, we can talk and tell them what the situation is, but based on our own findings. That is the reason why we set up that committee.
I suspect other legislators will have no interest in meeting with the most accompished liars ( in their own view ) of East Africa. If you have nothing better to do like say watching the grass grow, go have a read.
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