Mnangagwa Leaves For SADC Summit
President Emmerson Mnangagwa leaves for Malawi this Monday for the 41st Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government.
The Summit runs from tomorrow to Wednesday under the theme “Bolstering Productive Capacities in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic for Inclusive, Sustainable, Economic and Industrial Transformation”.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Frederick Shava is already in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital, for preparatory meetings that precede the Summit.
Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera will take over as chairperson of the bloc from Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.
A new Executive Secretary to head the SADC Secretariat in Botswana will be elected after the expiry of the tenure of incumbent Stergomena Lawrence Tax, a Tanzanian national.
Tax, the first woman to hold the post, has served the maximum of two four-year terms and under the term limits set by SADC, cannot be reappointed.
Member States will have to choose between two candidates: DRC’s Professor Faustin Luanga Mukela, who is a senior official at the World Trade Organisation, and Elias Magosi, the current head of the Botswana Public Service for the post of Executive Secretary.
A series of meetings leading up to the summit have already been held or are planned, with the SADC Organ Troika Summit expected today.
The Organ Troika, formally known as the Organ on Politics, Security and Defence Cooperation, is mandated to secure and guarantee peace in the region.
