Pictures and captions by Kudakwashe Hunda
CAPTION: Angolan Ambassador Nazaré José Salvador hands over the gavel to Zimbabwe’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ambassador Albert Ranganai Chimbindi, who assumed chairmanship of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials, to kick-start the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government. The SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials, which comprises of technocrats seconded by member states, jointly crafts the bloc’s social and economic development agenda by working with the SADC Secretariat.
The committee oversees the industrialisation of member states, food self-sufficiency and regional peace, stability and security, which are prerequisites for economic growth and prosperity. It also gives technical advice to the Council of Ministers.
CAPTION: The gavel, a symbol of authority, also took centre stage, as then-Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Ambassador Frederick Shava, shook hands with Ambassador Tete Antonio of Angola, who handed over the gavel as Zimbabwe took over chairmanship of the SADC Council of Ministers. The council supervises the growth of regional economies and ensures smooth and effective implementation of SADC guidelines.
CAPTION: The climax . . . The 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government reached its highpoint when the SADC chairperson, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, received the chairperson’s great power gift, ‘the gavel’, from outgoing SADC chairperson Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço at new Parliament building in Mt Hampden. The SADC chairperson is the highest authority in the supervision of the full implementation of the bloc’s social, economic, development and integration policies.
CAPTION: The gavel was a special power gift to President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa given to him as Zimbabwe assumed chairmanship of SADC. He shall authoritatively call for order as the SADC chairperson carrying the bloc’s vision of a peaceful, free and prosperous region.
