It was the first time for John Magufuli, as President-in-office of the SADC, at the 39th ordinary summit of the regional organisation
The President of the republic of Tanzania highlighted the advances in peace and security issues in the SADC, but recognised that there are still situations of conflict and organised crime that afflict the region.
John Magufuli, who replaced in office the Namibian Leader Homologo Hage Geingob, defended that they continue to work to address these problems, remembering that peace and security are essential conditions for economic development. “let us continue to work hard for our region to be free of conflict”, he called on the statesman, who committed to contribute to the strengthening of cooperation between member states.
The President of the republic of Tanzania highlighted the advances in peace and security issues in the SADC, but recognised that there are still situations of conflict and organised crime that afflict the region.
John Magufuli, who replaced in office the Namibian Leader Homologo Hage Geingob, defended that they continue to work to address these problems, remembering that peace and security are essential conditions for economic development. “let us continue to work hard for our region to be free of conflict”, he called on the statesman, who committed to contribute to the strengthening of cooperation between member states.
The promotion of the SADC’s industrialisation process is another priority of the new president of the organisation Indeed, John Magufuli congratulated the organisation for drawing up a regional industrialisation plan. “no country develops without going through a process of industrialisation”, he stressed.
The President of the SADC also referred to some advances in the region, having highlighted the strengthening of democratic culture, with elections in the member countries. He spoke in particular of the electoral processes since the previous summit, namely in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Malawi.
Sanctions Against Zimbabwe
The New President of the SADC before finishing his long speech, he made an appeal to the international community to lift the economic penalties they imposed on Zimbabwe.
The message was implicit to the United States and the European Union, which in March of this year renewed the penalties against members of the previous and current Zimbabwean governments.
The Us President Donald Trump recent justified the renewal of the penalties with the policies of the government of Emmerson Mnangagwa which continue to represent an “unusual and extraordinary” threat to Washington’s foreign policy.
Meanwhile, John Magufuli clarified that the penalties no longer make sense, as Zimbabwe has opened a new chapter of its history. “we must have one voice”, he called on the leaders of the SADC, in a clear reference that the region must be united in this Magufuli received a standing ovation, including the President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa.
For his part, the outgoing president of the SADC, Namibian Leader Hage geingob thanked everyone for their contribution during the 12 months of office and said he believes that his successor will promote the implementation of the regional integration agenda. Hage geingob congratulated the SADC for the “ready response” given to the countries affected by natural disasters. As a measures to reduce risks resulting from such disasters, the Namibian President pointed out, among other things: the promotion and regulation of the reduction of greenhouse gas in the environment, with actions to reforestation and conservation of biodiversity, as well as measures to respond Timely to climate change.
Energy sources
Just like the president of the SADC, the executive secretary of the organisation, Stergomena Laurance Tax, defended the promotion of industrialisation for the development of the southern region.
In this respect,She also called for the countries of the SADC to increase energy sources. Stergomena Tax is also in favour of promoting more employment for young people and strengthening women’s skills. In a session marked by many speeches, the executive secretary of the united nations economic commission for Africa, Vera Songwe, considered that the motto of the 39 SADC SUMMIT – ” creating an environment conducive to inclusive and sustainable industrial development, increased From infrastructure trade and job creation ” – is in line with global development programmes.
Vera Songwe called on the heads of state or government of the SADC to take more efforts to get thousands of people out of poverty. The SADC free trade area could be one of the ways in this direction. She called on the countries that have not yet ratified it to do so.
During the opening session of the 39th SADC Summit, the presidents of the union of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, the DR Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, and Madagascar, Adry Rajoelina, Were participating for the first time in such a meeting. The Comoros were admitted last year to the organisation, while the DR Congo and Madagascar elected their presidents recently.
THE SITUATION IN DRC And LESOTHO
The political and military situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were among the main issues addressed by the double troika of the body for cooperation in matters of politics, defence and security of the member countries of the Southern African development community (SADC) ) held at the Julius Nyerere international convection Centre , in the capital of Tanzania.
The Angolan Foreign Minister Manuel Augusto reminded the press that the troika meeting takes place every year, on the eve of the summit of the heads of state or government of the SADC, and aims at dealing issues of peace in depth, Security and consolidation of the democratic processes of the member countries
” you know that the SADC is a very dynamic region. In 2018, we had many electoral processes and this year we will have others and it is natural that the meeting between the presidents of Angola, João Lourenço, Zambia, Edgar Lungu, and Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, had taken a long time Said the head of Angolan diplomacy, to clarify the reason for the delay of the meeting.
During the meeting, the members of the troika reviewed the report of the SADC secretariat on the subject and then invited the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, as a facilitator of the same process, to present his findings regarding the political and military situation in Lesotho.
According to Manuel Augusto, the agency for cooperation in matters of policy, defence and security of the SADC will meet again with the prime minister of Lesotho, Tom Thabane, as an interested party, with whom an in depth approach will be used. The conclusions reached, will help to strengthen the peace process.
According to Manuel Augusto, the agency for cooperation in matters of policy, defence and security of the SADC will meet again with the prime minister of Lesotho, Tom Thabane, as an interested party, with whom an in depth approach will be used. The conclusions reached, will help to strengthen the peace process.
The legal document, called the SADC Convicted Offenders Transfer Protocol, which allows for this major change in the judicial systems of the countries of the southern sub-region, was signed at the meeting of Heads of State and Government, in the context of another regional summit, the 39th, which is still marked by the change in the leadership of the organisation and its Politics, Defence and Security bodies.
In the area of regional integration of judicial systems, which goes hand in hand with economic integration, for which an agreement was also signed in the industrial area, similar documents were also signed in the context of Legal Aid in Criminal Matters and Mutual Assistance. in the courts.
On these documents, the new SADC President-in-Office, Tanzanian President John Magufulli, in the closing speech of the Summit, underlined the current peace and security circumstance that the region is observing despite some of the worst situations, such as the Great Lakes Region, as essential to the steps taken at this Dar es Salaam, meeting.
The Tanzanian and SADC leader over the next 12 months also stressed the importance of promoting the economic development of member countries, of job creation, because economic growth is essential for the promotion of peace and security, but left a message in the form of a warning about the low expectations for the growth rate, which should have been 7% and at 3%.
The President of Tanzania welcomed the fact that Swahili was adopted by resolution as SADC’s fourth working language. Swahili is one of the official languages of Tanzania and one of the most widely spoken in most countries of the region. John Magufuli believes that the use of Swahili as a working language in SADC will contribute to the strengthening of relations between the peoples of the region.
At this Summit, as announced, there was the replacement of Namibian President Hage Geingob as Acting President by Tanzanian President John Magufuli, and Cyril Ramaphosa, who preceded Geingob.
Also in the most technical body of SADC, which governs Politics, Defence and Cooperation and is in the first line of attack to the crises that arise in the sub-region, the normal rotations took place, with the Angolan President leaving his post until yesterday. Zambian President Edgar Lungu, followed by Zimbabwean Emmerson Mnangagwa.
