The Sunday Mail
Darlington Musarurwa
President Mnangagwa has left for Lilongwe, Malawi, for the 41st Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government, which runs from tomorrow to Wednesday.
He was seen off at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, Service Chiefs and senior Government officials.
President Mnangagwa and Zimbabwe National Army Commander Lieutenant General David Sigauke do the elbow bump greeting at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport this afternoon as he left the country to attend the SADC 41st Ordinary Summit in Lilongwe, Malawi. Looking on is Foreign Affairs and International Trade Deputy Minister Dr David Musabayana (second from left), Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda (third from left) and Commander Air Force of Zimbabwe, Air Marshal Elson Moyo (second from right) – Picture: Kudakwashe Hunda
The theme for this year’s summit is “Bolstering Productive Capacities in the Face of Covid-19 Pandemic for Inclusive, Sustainable, Economic and Industrial Transformation.”
Before regional leaders meet tomorrow, the Organ Troika, whose mandate is to secure and guarantee peace in the region, will meet today.
It will likely be seized with developments in the DRC, Eswatini, Lesotho and Mozambique, where regional countries have decided to intervene to deal with an insurgency in Cabo Delgado province that has so far killed 2 500 people and displaced more than 800 000.
President Mnangagwa having a temperature check by Port Health technician Josephine Jack at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport this afternoon as left the country to attend the SADC 41st Ordinary Summit in Lilongwe, Malawi – Picture: Kudakwashe Hunda
Host President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi will take over as chairperson of the bloc from Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, while a new Executive Secretary to head the SADC Secretariat in Botswana will be elected after the expiry of incumbent Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax’s tenure.
Dr Tax – the region’s first female Executive Secretary – has served the statutory two four-year terms.
SADC is currently pursuing a development strategy that is premised on regional integration, industrialisation and competitiveness.
