SADC Summit looks to industries in poverty war

Her sentiments were echoed by Melanie Gumbo of Bindura, who said Mr. Mugabe did well as SADC chair and deserved some rest.

“Obviously, during this period, we have witnessed the removal of Joice Mujuru and the apparent elevation of ED (Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa as vice president), but most agree an absence of clarity on succession, as evidenced by the secrecy around Zanu PF’s own “rule book” – its constitution, leaves this issue very much up in the air”, he said. A Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan adopted in 2003 envisaged that southern Africa would have a single currency by 2018, but many of the targets in the roadmap were never met and this idea has been postponed indefinitely.

In their enjoinders during the opening of the 35th Summit of the regional economic grouping, the heads of state also called for full-scale war against poverty, in addition to the ongoing efforts to enhace democracy.

“Let us remember those that have endowed us with legacy”.

The council meeting, which ran several hours behind schedule and only ended late on Saturday night, resolved to look at sustainable ways of financing SADC programmes and to reduce financial dependency on donors.

The summit was preceded by the meeting of the Council of Ministers, which took place from 14 to 15 August 2015.

It said it was pursuing “alternative transfer transactions in Euro”, but this was costly.

Analysts also say that it is noteworthy that Khama sheltered Tsvangirai in 2008 after the opposition leader defeated Mugabe in that year’s presidential elections and then faced threats on his life after authorities held back the results of the ballot for weeks on end as they seemingly plotted how to thwart the democratic process.

Of this, $300 million should come from member states and the rest from donors.

Speaking earlier, SADC Executive Secretary, Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax touted the strides that SADC had made in the last 12 months on a number of fronts. Discussions will mainly focus on advancing the industrialization agenda of the region.

The summit is set to be held in the adjacent Gaborone international Convention Centre.

“On matters of peace, stability, and security in the region, South Africa will give a report to the summit on matters relating to the work of the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation”, the presidency said.

Mugabe failed in his bid to influence African countries to withdraw from the international Criminal Court (ICC), moreso after attempts by South African civil society organisations to have Sudan President Omar al-Bashir arrested and handed over to the ICC while he was attending an AU summit in South Africa in June.

President Robert Mugabe will hand over the one-year chairmanship of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (Sadc) to the brash Botswana President Ian Khama next Monday, in a move described by analysts as giving the bloc some long-sought teeth to reject dictatorship, rights abuses and electoral fraud in the sub-region.