Story by Bruce Chahwanda, Political Editor
The government has expressed satisfaction with the progress made so far in preparations for the SADC summit slated for Zimbabwe in August this year.
Zimbabwe has put much focus on the preparatory works ahead of the summit and there has been a hive of activity on the roads that lead to the New Parliament Building, which is the venue for the summit.
Updating the nation on the progress made so far, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere said all is going smoothly and some works have reached final stages.
“The most important issue is to indicate that the re-engagement and engagement strategy has generated positive success stories in terms of our international relations. It is important to also indicate the success story around Zimbabwe’s repositioning in terms of political, social, and economic issues within the context of international relations.
“The SADC summit will be held in Harare in Zimbabwe and this is obviously because of the leadership that has been provided in the Second Republic by His Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in that Zimbabwe is now the paragon in terms of international relations. It is now the citadel of international relations as we work together within the SADC regional body within the context of the SADC region, and in terms of the SADC industrialisation policy, whilst we look forward to the Africa Free Continental Trade Area in terms of the AU agenda.
“At the same time, let me also to indicate to you that all the preparatory works in terms of procurement have been going on very well, and thanks to the leadership that has been provided by the President, he created a whole of government approach which is chaired under a committee led by the Honourable Vice President, Dr General Retired Dr Chiwenga,” said Dr Muswere.
Dr Muswere applauded local contractors for making sure roads, waterworks and accommodation are in place ahead of the event.
“I can explicitly and euphorically state that the roadworks are at an advanced stage. The water and reticulation are almost finished, the ICT systems and ICT infrastructure have been put in place, accommodation is in place and also the villas are being constructed and we have reached the final stage in terms of completion of all the major infrastructure works that have been taking place across the country as we work together towards hosting the SADC summit.”
The SADC summit will be preceded by the SADC Industrialisation Week, where manufacturers across the trading bloc will showcase their products, while a public lecture will also be held at the University of Zimbabwe.
The summit will culminate with President Emmerson Mnangagwa assuming the chairmanship of the regional trading bloc.
