Story by Oleen Ndori, Foreign Editor
THE Council of Ministers to the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government has opened at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden.
With the banging of the gavel, Ambassador Frederick Shava took over as chair of the 44th SADC Council of Ministers from his counterpart, Angolan Minister for External Affairs, Honourable Tete Antonio.
The Council of Ministers acts as advisor to the Heads of State and Government Summit following recommendations from the senior officials’ meeting.
SADC Executive Secretary, His Excellency Mr Elias Magosi welcomed SADC Ministers to the council meeting and highlighted the progress that the region has made in socio-economic and political facets towards enhanced regional integration.
“SADC recognises that peace, security, and good governance provide pathways for integration and socio-economic development of the region. To this end, SADC continued to make timely interventions to consolidate peace and stability in the region. The deployment of missions in the Cabo Delgado Province of Northern Mozambique, and the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo are a response to the emergent threats to our cherished peace.
“I am therefore pleased to report that the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), that was deployed in July 2021, to support the Government of Mozambique to fight terrorism and violent extremism was successfully concluded on the 4th of July this year, with some recorded positive milestones in addressing the security situation in Cabo Delgado,” he said.
He added, “The mission managed to prevent further killings of the civilian population by degrading the operations of the terrorists through intensified patrols and operations. Through our interventions, we succeeded in facilitating humanitarian assistance, controlling radicalisation and indoctrination, and protecting public infrastructure to restore essential public services. Together with the Government of Mozambique and other partners, the region has helped to create a secure environment, allowing the return of over 600, 000 of the 1.2 million internally displaced persons to their places of origin, thereby paving the way for sustainable development in the area.”
Outgoing Chairperson Hon Tete Antonio called for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West while celebrating joint efforts for socio-economic and political development.
“I call for the lifting of the embargo placed on Zimbabwe and the impact it has on SADC regional integration we are pushing for. I feel honoured to have chaired the council of ministers for SADC and to work with all of you to build our regional integration and push our policies and advising the heads of state and government. I also applaud the response to issues of empowerment, innovation, driving productivity and fostering our regional industrialisation agenda along with strides in education. The region continues to be peaceful and stable despite terrorist activity in Northern Mozambique and DRC continues to be our major worry,” he said.
Ambassador Frederick Shava said he hopes to steer the region towards promoting innovation, industrialisation and economic growth of SADC.
“I intend to steer our organisation to promote innovation and create opportunities for the present and future generations through sustainable regional industrialisation and economic growth. We have to leverage our human capital and abundant resources to unlock the vast socio-economic potential that our region wields.
“The region is endowed with abundant resources which are essential for our growth if we can take advantage of the young, educated and trained youth force who possess the much needed technological skills to spearhead our economic development. The mainstreaming of our youth in the regional development agenda will resultantly promote innovation and unlock opportunities through sustained economic growth and industrialisation,” he noted.
Several events that include a public lecture at the University of Zimbabwe to be delivered by President Emmerson Mnangagwa as well as the SADC-BADEA investment forum and the SADC TROIKA Summit will precede the Heads of State and Government Summit on the 17th.
