Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was chosen as the chairman of SADC during its 42nd Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government (SADC).
Joo Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, the president of the Republic of Angola, has been chosen to serve as the SADC’s next chairman.
Tshisekedi replaces Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera as president of the Republic of Malawi.
Hakainde Hichilema, the President of the Republic of Zambia, was chosen as the new chairwoman of the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation, while Dr. Hage G. Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia, was voted as the organ’s outgoing chairperson.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is replaced as the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation’s departing chair by Hichilema.
The capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, hosted the 42nd Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of SADC on Wednesday.
The 42nd SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government was a success, and the summit expressed its gratitude to the DRC government and people for that.
Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, served as SADC’s chairman. He thanked all heads of state and government for attending the 42nd SADC Heads of State and Government Summit, according to a release from SADC.
The nomination of Angele Makombo N’Tumba, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the new Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration of the SADC was also agreed during the summit.
The summit praised the smooth transfer of power and the successful general elections in the Republic of Zambia in August 2021.
“The summit observed that the Republic of Angola and the Kingdom of Lesotho are prepared to conduct their general and national assembly elections on the 24th August 2022 and the 7th October 2022, respectively,” SADC stated.
President Ramaphosa, who is stepping down as head of the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation, presented a report at the summit.
Despite the difficulties brought on by COVID-19, he was praised for his strong leadership and ongoing efforts to combat threats to peace and security throughout the year.
The SADC Facilitator to the Kingdom of Lesotho, President Ramaphosa, provided a status report to the summit on the implementation of SADC resolutions in Lesotho.
SADC said that, “while acknowledging the progress achieved, it encouraged the government to swiftly complete the continuing reforms, as well as to continue with the peace, transitional justice, and reconciliation process to foster national unity, and bring about national healing and cohesiveness.”
The SADC Facilitator and the Facilitation Team received praise from the summit for their strong leadership and support of the Lesotho government and people throughout the multi-stakeholder national discussion process and the approval of the comprehensive reform recommendations.
The SADC Panel of Elders (PoE) and the Mediation Reference Group (MRG) will create an oversight committee, SADC said, “to maintain continuity and supervision on the implementation of reforms in the Kingdom of Lesotho.”
regional harmony
Updates on the security situation in the northernmost province of the Republic of Mozambique, Cabo Delgado, have also been provided to the summit.
The SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) and its associated procedures were authorised by the summit.
SADC said that the summit “commended SAMIM Personnel Contributing Countries (PCCs) for their solidarity and sacrifice in supporting the mission and extended condolences to the governments and families of the nine dead SAMIM personnel, who perished in the theatre of operations.”
Concern and unity were voiced during the conference over the most recent security events in the eastern DRC.
“The summit mandated the chairperson of the Ministerial Committee of the Organ, supported by the Organ Troika FIB Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs), to meet with the UN 4 Secretary General on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2022 to explore all avenues to support efforts to improve the security situation,” SADC said.
A short report on the security situation in the Kingdom of Eswatini was provided to the summit, and it was well received.
While denouncing the violence, the summit instructed the chairman of the Organ to call an Extraordinary Summit of the Organ Troika plus Eswatini at a later date with the goal of resolving the nation’s security issues in a peaceful and long-lasting manner.
The summit also voiced worry about how ongoing marine security challenges, particularly those that are growing in the western Indian Ocean, are harming the region’s development objectives.
The SADC Maritime Integrated Strategy and its Action Plan were recommended to be implemented more quickly in this respect by the summit, according to SADC.
The formation of the SADC Regional Counter-Terrorism Centre (SADC-RCTC) in the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) as an organisation that coordinates counterterrorism efforts in the Region has also been warmly acknowledged by the summit.
The exchange of information and collaboration among member states in the fight against terrorism, radicalization, and violent extremism has been recommended.