The Sunday Mail
The Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security was launched in June 1996 as a formal institution of the bloc with a mandate to support security and rule of law in Southern Africa.
The Sadc Treaty and Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ (SIPO II) are key documents guiding the organ’s activities. The organ affirms co-operation among Sadc states in the areas of defence, crime prevention, intelligence, peace-keeping, conflict management and human rights.
Furthermore “the organ is mandated to deal with inter and intra-state conflicts and can use means such as preventative diplomacy, negotiations, conciliation, mediation, arbitration and as a means of last resort — force”.
Regional conflicts in Africa
Article 53.1 of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Security Charter reads: “The Security Council shall, where appropriate, utilise such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement actions under its authorities.”
Article 52.2 of the same charter says regional conflicts and disputes should be initially undertaken by regional UN members, and that these members “shall make every effort to achieve pacific settlements of local disputes through such regional arrangements or by such regional agencies before referring them to the Security Council”.
Simply put, when a conflict arises in a region, before the UN intervenes, it looks to the relevant regional body to resolve the matter, and where there is no regional bloc, it looks to UN members within that region. Now, regrettably, in recent times various African regions have relapsed into conflict zones. Several of these conflicts have resulted in the direct intervention of foreign forces.
France, for instance, has 1 700 troops in Mali (a former French colony) and intends to send more troops into that country as well as Chad and Niger as part of a regional “counter-terrorism” operation. This is in spite of the existence of a regional body — the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Apart from Mali, there are ongoing conflicts in Central African Republic, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Closer to home, the resurgence of the Renamo threat in Mozambique remains a matter of concern. In light of such conflict, it is important for Sadc to strengthen its security synergy. The theme for this year’s Sadc Summit, scheduled for Victoria Falls next month, is “Sadc Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development”.
It is critical to note that there can be no sustainable economic development where conflict persists. It is, therefore, essential to strengthen Sadc’s main mechanism for conflict resolution: SIPO II.
This is a five-year strategic document that establishes Sadc’s institutional framework for policy co-ordination and implementation in politics, defence and security. It was initially developed in 2003, and modified in 2012.
Since 2004, SIPO II achieved the following:
Facilitating defence and security co-operation among Sadc countries
Commitment towards collective self-defence via the Sadc Mutual Defence Pact
The launch and operationalisation of the Sadc Standby Force
Promoting regional police co-operation to enhance the fight against organised crime and illegal cross-border activities through the integration of the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation into the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee
The establishment of the Regional Early Warning Centre, tasked with the anticipation, prevention and management of conflicts
The establishment of the Sadc Electoral Advisory Council and the Mediation unit, tasked with dealing with the political governance and observation of elections.
However, some researchers in the region believe SIPO II is an under-funded and legally non-binding document that is simply rich in rhetoric.
Yet, when one looks at the current conflicts around Africa, especially in the Ecowas region, and at how those nation states have had to rely on foreign troops to resolve military threats, one sees the benefit of Sadc’s defence co-operation.
Presently, Sadc is arguably Africa’s most peaceful regional bloc.
For example, Nigeria recently overtook South Africa as Africa’s economic leader. However, it was unfortunate that when Boko Haram abducted 234 schoolgirls in Borno state, a member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives’ committee on defence, Eziuche Uban, immediately pronounced, “Nigeria should seek international help “because the Nigerian armed forces are not in a position to defeat the insurgency in the north-east”.
One wonders why Ecowas could not help. Ultimately, while it is true that Sadc needs to focus on economic development, the tragic mall bombings in East Africa and the schoolgirl abductions in West Africa make it imperative for the region to augment its security co-operation and integration at the next Summit in Victoria Falls.
