Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi called the 44th ordinary SADC summit, which took place this Saturday in Harare, Zimbabwe, a success.
According to Radio Moçambique, speaking in a brief statement to the press that accompanied him, Filipe Nyusi indicated that the event served to debate profound issues in the region, in various areas.
On the occasion, the statesman reiterated his thanks to his peers for their support in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado, and on other fronts on which Mozambique has relied on the countries of the region.
‘We discussed in depth the situation in Lesotho, in Eswatini, where we noted that there was progress: the situation fell off the agenda after we spoke about SAMIM, which was active in Mozambique, and at that moment I took the opportunity to thank our brothers and sisters who took part there, and above all to mourn the loss of the children who were lost, but a life is a life,’ he said.
On the legal front, in addition to the election of Emmerson Mnangagwa as president of SADC, Malagasy statesman Andry Rajoelina was also elected as vice-president of the body, while Samia Suluhu Hassan from Tanzania was elected to chair the Troika, assisted by Lazarus Chakwera from Malawi.
In his acceptance speech, the President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, stressed that on the basis of this year’s theme, the countries of the region must focus on training human capital in order to embrace the technology and innovation that will lead to the modernisation and industrialisation of SADC, towards improving the quality of life of its citizens.
In fact, this was the first ordinary SADC summit following the official withdrawal last July of SAMIM, which, together with the Mozambican and Rwandan Defence and Security Forces, was fighting terrorism in Cabo Delgado province.
For this reason, the outgoing president of SADC, the Angolan head of state, João Lourenço, highlighted SAMIM’s role in combating terrorism in Cabo Delgado, while emphasising that the regional military force’s commitment to stopping the phenomenon is not suspended.
