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The Senate of Rwanda is composed of 26 members (17
males and 9 females). Fourteen
members are elected while twelve
are appointed. They are elected
for an eight-year non-renewable
tenure.
Members
of the Senate are citizens of
impeccable character possessing
the qualities of "inararibonye"
who are elected or appointed
objectively based on individual
merit without regard to
political affiliation. They are
highly skilled in the fields of
science, law, economics,
politics, sociology, culture and
are persons who have held senior
positions in the public or
private sectors.
A candidate for the Senate must fulfil the
following requirements:
1°
satisfaction of the criteria
specified in Article 82 of
Rwandan Constitution;
2°
being an inararibonye;
3°
having irreproachable morals and
probity;
4°
not having been deprived of
civil and political rights;
5°
being at least forty years old;
6°
Not having been sentenced by a
court of last instance to a term
of imprisonment of six months or
more in respect of which there
has been no amnesty or
rehabilitation.
As stated earlier, 12 members are elected by the
specific councils in accordance
with the administrative
entities. One University
lecturer of at least the rank of
Associate professor or
researcher, elected by academic
and research staff of public
universities and institutions of
higher learning. Another
university lecturer of at least
the rank of Associate Professor
or researcher, elected by
academic and research staff of
Private universities and
institutions of higher learning
The President of the Republic appoints eight
members while the Forum of
Political organizations
designates four members
Former Heads of State who honourably completed
their terms or voluntarily
resigned from office become
Senators upon their request to
the Supreme Court.
A
Member can be removed before the
end of the tenure by the 3/5 of
the members present.
A Member shall be of high
integrity and good morals in or
out of the Senate. He or she
shall especially avoid the
following:
1° drunkenness;
2° dishonesty;
3° barbarism;
4° to use his or her authority
to serve his or her own
interest;
5° any other conduct which could
jeopardize his or her
personality or his or her
position.
Any Member found guilty of
breaches referred to in this
article may be warned,
reprimanded or excluded from the
Senate upon approval by
three-fifths (3/5) of the
Members present.
The President of the Senate convenes sessions and
sittings through writing
respecting specifications
mentioned in the rules of
procedure.
The Senate of Rwanda cannot be dissolved.
Specified draft bills are first voted by the Lower
Chamber and transmitted to the
Senate. Laws voted by the Senate
are retransmitted to the Lower
Chamber, which now sends them to
the President of the Republic
for promulgation.
In the event where the Senate does not approve a
bill forwarded to it or
amendments to a bill proposed by
the Senate are not acceptable to
the Chamber of Deputies, both
Chambers set up a joint
committee composed of an equal
number of Deputies and Senators
which examines the bill and
makes proposals on matters still
being debated.
An annual report is submitted to both Chambers in
joint sittings by:
1. The Office of the Auditor General of State
Finances;
1. The Office of the Ombudsman;
1.
The National Electoral
Commission;
1. The National Human Rights
Commission
Both Chambers study the reports and make
recommendations to the
Government.
The Senate does not have the prerogative to
initiate bills. Only the Lower
Chamber can.
The Senate sits in three ordinary sessions of 2
months each (180days) in one
year.
PRINCIPAL
OFFICERS
The president is elected by
members at the first sitting
chaired by the President of the
republic through secret ballot
and by an absolute majority vote
of the Members present for a
period of 8 years.
Brief outline of the functions
of the President.
The President has among others the following
functions
1.
To officially represent the
Senate;
2. To call Members to ordinary and
extraordinary sessions;
3. To open and close ordinary and
extraordinary sessions;
4. To convene and preside over
plenary sittings;
5. To maintain order in the plenary
sitting;
6. To oversee relations between the
Senate and other local and
foreign Institutions;
7. To manage and coordinate the
activities of the Bureau;
8. To chair meetings of the
Conference of Chairpersons;
9. To oversee the implementation of
decisions made by the Bureau,
the Conference of Chairpersons
and the Plenary Assembly;
10. To inform the President of the
Republic and the Prime Minister
of the Senate’s programme of
activities;
11. To coordinate different
activities related to field
visits to the population by
Members;
12. To inform Members of the
reception of Cabinet decisions
and make them available for
Consultation;
13. To be the Principal paymaster of
the Senate;
14. To oversee the activities of the
Clerk of the Senate;
15. To coordinate the Senate’s
capacity building programmes
16. To chair debates in
joint-sessions of both Chambers
in the absence of the Speaker of
the Chamber of Deputies.
In the Rwandan National Order of
Precedence, he is the no.2 after
the President of the Republic.
The President can be removed before the end of his
tenure upon request of one-third
(1/3) of Members but he retains
his seat in the chamber if this
happens.
Designations of other
Principal Officers
Senate together with the President are elected the
same way as for the President
(i) Two vice Presidents of the Senate that
constitute the Bureau of the
Senate
(ii) The Clerk of the Senate who is not a
Senator but a civil servant
The other Principal Officers can also be removed
from office before the end of
tenure just as the president.
Brief outline of the functions of other
Principal Officers
The Vice Presidents have the
following functions:
Stand in for the President in his or her
absence. The specific duties of
one of the Vice-Presidents are
as follows:
1.To stand in for the President of the Senate in
his or her absence;
2.To oversee legislative activities;
3.To oversee activities relating to the control
of the respect of the
fundamental principles
referred to in the Constitution;
4.To oversee activities regarding the executive
oversight;
5.To carry out any other activities assigned by
the Bureau and related to his or
her duties .
The duties of the other
Vice-President are as follows:
1. To
stand
in for
the President in case the
Vice-President who duly fulfils
that duty is absent
2. To oversee management and
administrative affairs;
3. To oversee the relations of the
Senate with other local and
foreign Institutions;
4. To carry out any other activity
assigned to him or her by the
Bureau and related to his or her
duties.
The Plenary Assembly determines
modalities for distributing
duties to the Vice-Presidents.
COMMITTEE SYSTEM
The Senate of Rwanda has four committees. There is
also a committee in charge of
the conduct of Members and
assessment of the Senate
activities. Each committee is
made up of an average of five
members. The President does not
belong to any Committee
In the legislative process in general, each
committee examines draft bills
that relate to its attributions;
(e.g. economic related draft
bills by the committee on
economy and Finance…). The
committees are made up of the
chairperson, deputy and ordinary
members.
The committees are classified into:
The standing Committee on Political Affairs
and Good Governance
The
Standing Committee on Economic
Development and Finance
The
Standing Committee on Foreign
Affairs, Cooperation and
Security
The
Standing Committee on Social
Affairs, petitions and Human R
The
plenary assembly elects the
Chairmen of Committees for
tenure of four years.
The chairs convene and chair committees meetings.
POLITICAL PARTIES
Members are not elected or appointed on political
parties’ basis though they
belong to different political
parties.
FUNCTIONS OF THE CHAMBER
The senate has oversight functions with regard to
other arms of Government
The Senate is also involved in the foreign policy
process of the country through
Parliamentary diplomacy.
Apart from legislative functions, the senate also
approves and elects high
officials of the country like
Ambassadors, governors, etc. It
also supervises the application
of the principles referred to it
by the constitution.
The Chamber has Standing Rules for its business.
It can amend its rules and
enforce discipline among its
members.
As provided for in article 69 of
the Constitution, no Member
shall be prosecuted, pursued,
arrested, detained or judged for
any opinion expressed or votes
made by him or her in the
exercise of his or her duties.
The Senate works in conjunction with the Ministry
of Public service for the
recruitment of staff.
The structure of the Senate is as
follows:
1. The Plenary Assembly
2. The Conference of Chairpersons
3. The Bureau
ADDRESS
The Senate of Rwanda
P.O Box 6729 Kigali/Rwanda
Telephone Number(s): (250) 582283 -(250)
582286-(250) 587912
Fax Number: (250) 582281- (250) 582283
Email:
presse@rwanda1.com
Website: www.rwandaparliament.gov.rw
Current President:
Dr
BIRUTA Vincent
Tenure:
8years like other members but
the term of office as presiding
officer is not specified
Date of the next election:
2011
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