Sinokubonga Nkala
Wallace Ruzvidzo in GABORONE, Botswana
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa will have a packed itinerary today when he arrives for his maiden visit to the SADC Secretariat Headquarters since assuming Chairmanship of the regional bloc.
The President will meet and engage with the Secretariat staff, receive the recently purchased SADC Secretariat Headquarters Building, and preside over a ground-breaking ceremony to construct the SADC Standby Force Regional Logistics Depot (RLD).
As chair, President Mnangagwa has the overall mandate of providing policy direction and controlling the functions of the regional bloc.
Upon arrival at the Secretariat Headquarters, the President will be ushered by the SADC Executive Secretary, Mr Elias Magosi, to sign the guest book.
Thereafter, President Mnangagwa will proceed to the Julius Nyerere SADC Library, where he will appreciate the SADC History Collection. This will be followed by the unveiling of the Visiting Placard by the regional bloc Chairperson.
The President will then meet the SADC Management team, where Deputy Executive Secretary for Corporate Affairs, Dr Judith Kateera, will brief him on the mandate, functions, and structure of the Secretariat and the division of responsibilities.
He will also be briefed on the Priorities of SADC, and the overall status of regional integration in the region (status, emerging issues, and recommendations).
The SADC Chair will then proceed to proffer guidance on the implementation of the bloc’s programmes going forward and preside over a meeting with all SADC Secretariat Staff accompanied by Botswana President Duma Boko.
During their tenure, SADC Chairpersons traditionally visit the Secretariat to engage with management and address staff.
Thereafter, there will be a ceremonial hand over of the SADC Headquarters Building from Bongwe Investments Proprietary Limited to President Mnangagwa as Chair of the regional bloc, on behalf of the region’s Heads of State and Government.
Prior to its handover today, the building was being governed through a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Agreement involving SADC, Bongwe Investments (Proprietary) Limited as the private party and the Botswana Government as a guarantor to the PPP arrangement.
Following engagements at the SADC Secretariat Headquarters, President Mnangagwa and his counterpart President Boko will proceed to preside over the grounding-breaking ceremony of the Regional Logistics Depot at Rasesa village, located about 40km from Gaborone.
The RLD will serve as a storage for materials, equipment and end-user stocks for use by the SADC Standby Force when undertaking mandated peace support and humanitarian missions.
In an interview yesterday, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Botswana, Henry Mukonoweshuro, said everything was in place for President Mnangagwa’s arrival this morning.
He said both the Zimbabwe and Botswana Governments, as well as the SADC Secretariat had pulled all the stops to ensure the SADC Chair’s visit was a resounding success.
“There is a lot of assistance from the host country and we are ready to roll. The SADC Secretariat is waiting for His Excellency (President Mnangagwa) to come and all logistics are going very well at this point in time,” he said.
During his tenure, President Mnangagwa will push for the realisation of the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030) and SADC Vision 2050.
The two strategic plans, which were approved by the 40th Ordinary SADC Summit in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2020, seek to further deepen Southern Africa’s regional integration and foster development.
They are premised on three interrelated pillars; Industrial Development and Market Integration; Infrastructure Development in support of Regional Integration; and Social and Human Capital Development.
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