Regional leaders attending the 39th Ordinary Summit of the
Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community
(Sadc), which begins today and ends tomorrow, will consider a resolution to
push for the removal of sanctions against Zimbabwe, it has been learnt.
The new chair of the Sadc Council of Ministers, Mr
Palamagamba Kabudi – who is also Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and
East African Cooperation – told the media ahead of the regional indaba that the
resolution was part of 107 draft resolutions that will be tabled at the summit.
The Sadc Council Ministers, which is made up of ministers
of foreign affairs and finance from the 16 members states, are responsible for
drawing up the agenda of the summit.
“The situation in Zimbabwe has normalised with the recent
successful elections and a new political dispensation,” said Minister Kabudi.
Tanzanian President, Dr John Magufuli, will officially take
over as chair of the bloc from Namibian President Hage Geingob.
Sadc believes the continued embargo on Harare by the United
States of America and the European Union is now untenable, particularly in view
of the progress that the new political administration has made with its
political and economic reforms.
President Mnangagwa, who will also assume the chair of the
Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation during the ongoing meeting,
is presently on a mission to engage and re-engage the global community in order
to integrate Zimbabwe into the global family of nations.
The President arrived in Dar es Salaam yesterday evening
and was met at Julius Nyerere International Airport by Tanzania’s Minister of
State in the President’s Office (Public Service and Good Governance) Mr George
Mkuchika and Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania,
Lieutenant-General Anselem Sanyatwe.
Lands, Agriculture, Water Climate and Rural Settlement
Minister Perrance Shiri also welcomed the President.
Zimbabwe was elected to chair the Sadc Organ on Politics,
Defence and Security Cooperation – the Organ Troika – at a regional meeting in
Namibia last year.
President Mnangagwa will take over the mantle from Zambian
President, Edgar Lungu.
The Organ Troika yesterday convened a meeting at Julius
Nyerere International Convention Centre – the venue of the summit – in the
evening.
This year’s regional indaba is running under the theme: “A
Conducive Environment for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development,
Increased Intra-Regional Trade and Job Creation.”
It is the same theme that has been running for the past
five years in the bloc’s 39-year history, especially ever since the region made
a commitment to prioritise industrialisation after the Sadc Industrialisation
Strategy and Roadmap (2016-2063) was adopted at an Extraordinary Summit held in
Harare in 2015.
In a statement released before the summit, Foreign Affairs
and International Trade spokesperson Mr Shepherd Gwenzi said the agenda of the
Summit includes receiving the report of the Sadc executive secretary, Dr
Stergomena Lawrence Tax, for the period 2018 to 2019, which gives an overview
of the political and economic developments in the region and the implementation
of programmes of regional cooperation and integration.
It also includes an update on the regional economic
integration and other ongoing regional programmes.
Focus will also be on the political and security situation
in the region, especially the Kingdom of Lesotho.
“The following legal instruments will be opened for
signature at Summit following their clearance and recommendation to Summit by
the Committee of Ministers of Justice and Attorney-General: (a)Agreement
Amending the Protocol on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and (b)
Draft Agreement Amending Article 7 of the Protocol on Extradition,” Mr Gwenzi
said.
Notably, the summit will also adopt Kiswahili as the fourth
official language of the bloc.
Currently, the official languages of the 16-nation body are
English, French and Portuguese.
Earlier in Harare, President Mnangagwa was seen was seen
off at the Robert Mugabe International Airport by Vice-President Kembo Mohadi,
Harare Metropolitan Minister Oliver Chidau, Minister of State Security Owen
Ncube, chief secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda,
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services secretary Nick Mangwana,
service chiefs and other senior Government officials. Herald
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