Mutharika to hand over Sadc chairmanship to Mugabe
Malawi President Peter Mutharika will hand over Sadc chairmanship to counterpart Robert Mugabe next week at the upcoming 34th Ordinary Summit Meeting of the Sadc Heads of State and Government.
Malawi’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, George Mkondiwa, on Sunday, 10th August 2014, handed over the seat to his Zimbabwean counterpart as part of the handling over the chairmanship.
The Ordinary Summit will, among other things, to undertake an overview assessment of the political and socio-economic development in the region, consider the report on the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) for 2015-2020, the report on the Sadc Tribunal and the Appointment of the Deputy Executive Secretary responsible for Finance and Administration.
In a press release from the Ministry of Information, Tourism and Culture also indicated that the other key important issue during the Summit is that Malawi is expected to handle over its Sadc Chairpersonship to the Republic of Zimbabwe at all levels namely: Standing Committee of Senior Officials, Council of Ministers and Summit.
“The Summit will further receive reports from the Outgoing Chairpersons of Sadc and the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation. The Summit will also receive the Progress Report on the Sadc Strategic Challenges, Threats and Opportunities in the Long-term: the Sadc Vision 2050 and finally consider Legal Instruments for Signing,” reads part of the statement.
Malawi former President Joyce Banda took over the leadership of the regional organisation last year but her tenure was to be completed by Peter Mutharika, the current President of Malawi after Banda had lost the election in May this year.
Mutharika, the current Chairperson of Sadc, will among other things present a report on the activities undertaken during the period under review.
The Malawi’s Sadc Chairmanship was held under theme “Agriculture development and agro-industries: Key for Economic Growth and Poverty Eradication in the Sadc Region” focusing on the empowerment of women and the youth.
During its tenure Malawi spearheaded the development of the “Sadc Strategy on Food and Nutrition Security” for 2015-2025 focusing on women and the youth.
Ministry of Information press release farther indicated that: “This Strategy is primarily developed to achieve the core objective of our theme which is also in line with the target in the Sadc Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) to reduce the population affected by extreme hunger.”
During the Zimbabwe’s SadcChairmanship, the theme is entitled “Sadc Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition.”
Sadc is expected to develop a Strategy to implement this theme which is key for industrialization in the Sadc Region.
