Source: Sadc Extraordinary Summit begins today | The Sunday Mail
Debra Matabvu
Chief Reporter
THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) Extraordinary Heads of State and Government Summit begins today, with 10 member states having confirmed their participation.
The meeting will focus on the region’s political and security challenges, including the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC), whose mandate expires this year.
The four-day event will take place at the new Parliament building in Mt Hampden, the same venue for the 44th SADC Summit that was held in August.
Ministers and senior officials from member states began arriving in Harare yesterday for registration of delegates.
The summit will open with a meeting of senior officials of the Ministerial Committee of the Organ, scheduled for this morning.
A meeting of the Ministerial Committee on the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation is scheduled to take place soon after the conclusion of the first indaba.
The two sessions will be chaired by Tanzania.
Tomorrow, the Standing Committee of Senior Officials and Finance Committee will convene under the chairmanship of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ambassador Albert Chimbindi.
Zimbabwe will also chair the SADC Council of Ministers meeting tomorrow afternoon.
Senior officials of the Organ Troika will meet on Tuesday, while the Ministerial Committee of the Organ Troika will convene later that day, with Tanzania chairing both meetings.
The SADC Organ Troika Summit will meet on Wednesday morning, with the Heads of State and Government Summit convening in the afternoon on the same day to deliberate on recommendations from the preceding committee sessions.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Amb Chimbindi said: “In terms of preparations, we are now at an advanced stage. The SADC Secretariat arrives today (Friday), and we expect the installation of equipment that will be used at the venue to be completed today.
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DRC, elections top Sadc summit agenda“All meetings of the summit, including the Heads of State and Government Summit, will be held at Parliament building, where the 44th SADC Summit was held.
“As of today (Friday), 10 countries have confirmed participation and we are expecting more to confirm by the end of day.”
The indaba, he said, will discuss political developments in the region.
“The meeting will basically discuss the political situation in the region, but since it is an extraordinary summit, it will specifically focus on the SADC Mission to DRC, whose mandate expires in December this year,” he said.
Discussions during the summit will centre around the future of the SAMIDRC, whose mandate to assist the DRC government in restoring peace and stability in the conflict-ridden eastern region ends in December.
The war in North Kivu province has resulted in over 1 000 deaths and displacement of more than six million people.
This makes it Africa’s most severe displacement crisis.
SADC leaders are expected to evaluate the mission’s impact and consider extending or reconfiguring its mandate.
In addition to the DRC issue, the summit will review recent elections in Mozambique that were held on October 9, which saw Daniel Chapo of FRELIMO winning the presidential polls.
Also on the agenda will be a review of Botswana’s October 30 polls, which saw the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) taking over power.
The regional leaders will also discuss Namibia’s upcoming polls, which are scheduled for November 27.
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