President lashes out at parliament

Rwanda’s new prime minister Bernard Makuza has presented his programme, shortly after the new government was sworn in on Monday. According to Rwandan radio, he pledged to respect human rights and maintain peace and security in the country. He also vowed to assist genocide survivors and raise living standards. Meanwhile, President Pasteur Bizimungu has condemned parliament for the late announcement of the government - more than a month after the resignation of the former prime minister Pierre-Celestin Rwigema. “It is necessary to control government activity, but this does not mean it has to fall,” he said during the government swearing-in ceremony. “You chased away ministers, you chased away the speaker of parliament, you made a government fall... and I myself was almost sacked,” he told MPs, according to the Rwanda News Agency (RNA). “There is a real problem with parliament’s method of working.” RNA noted that differences between Bizimungu and Vice-President Paul Kagame over the composition of the new government - notably whether to keep Patrick Mazimhaka, the minister in the president’s office - had contributed to the delay. The secretary-general of the ruling RPF, Charles Murigande, was quoted as saying the new ministers should not be people “who have to appear in parliament to give explanations regarding allegations of corruption”. Mazimhaka - a close ally of Bizimungu - was left out of the new government amid accusations of corruption. Murigande also said the new government would be more open and relay information “to dispel rumours which are a source of disorder arising from a misinterpretation of events”. He added that a constitutional committee would soon be formed to determine modalities for the succession.