SADC member states have resolved to deploy a force to help Mozambique contain insurgency in its northern provinces where terrorists have left a trail of destruction that also threatens regional peace.
The decision was adopted at the 16-member regional bloc
Extraordinary Summit that was held in Maputo, Mozambique, yesterday.
More than 3 000 people are estimated to have been killed by
the insurgents with 800 000 displaced from their homes in the gas-rich Cabo
Delgado province since four years ago.
President Mnangagwa was part of the Heads of State and
Government who resolved to deploy troops on Mozambican soil at the request of
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.
At the end of the day-long summit, that was also attended
by Botswana President Mokgweetsi Keabetswe Masisi, DRC President Félix Antoine
Tshisekedi Tshilombo, Lesotho Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro, Malawi
President Dr Lazarus Chakwera, Mozambican President Nyusi, South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa and the United Republic of Tanzania President Samia
Suluhu Hassan, SADC executive secretary Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax said the
region’s troops are ready.
“Summit endorsed the recommendations of the Report of the
Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation and
approved the Mandate for the SADC Standby Force Mission to the Republic of
Mozambique, to be deployed in support of Mozambique to combat terrorism and
acts of violent extremism in Cabo Delgado,” she said.
Apart from deploying an army, SADC, Dr Tax said, will in
collaboration with Humanitarian Agencies continue providing humanitarian
support to those affected by the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado.
With the region walking hand in hand in securing peace and
ensuring food and nutrition security, the summit took a moment to remember one
of the founders of SADC, the late Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, who died
last week
“Summit expressed deepest condolences to former President
Dr Kaunda’s family, His Excellency Dr President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, the
government and the People of the Republic of Zambia following the passing on of
HE Dr Kenneth David Buchizya Kaunda, first President of the Republic of Zambia
and the last surviving founding father of SADC and the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU), the fore-runner of the African Union (AU); and paid tribute to
late former President Dr Kaunda for the pivotal role he played in the
liberation struggle, and for laying a solid foundation for regional integration
of Southern Africa,” said Dr Tax.
Founded in 1992, as a successor to the Southern African
Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) is a regional economic bloc comprising 16 member states namely
Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini,
Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South
Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
The organisation was established in 1992, with a thrust
towards regional integration and poverty eradication within Southern Africa
through economic development and ensuring peace and security.
The summit also discussed regional food and nutrition
security, gender and development, and progress in the regional response to HIV
and AIDS and Covid-19 pandemic.
It reviewed the progress made in the implementation of the
theme of the 40th SADC Summit that says ‘‘SADC: 40 Years Building Peace and
Security, and Promoting Development and Resilience in the Face of Global
Challenges’’, which was endorsed by the SADC Summit in August, 2020.
President Mnangagwa returned home last night and was received
by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and several Government ministers. Herald
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