Southern Africa: Dar Touts Feats As SADC Chair

 

By Bernard Lugongo

THE adoption of Kiswahili as among official languages at Southern African Development Community (SADC) is one of the key achievements attained during

Tanzania's chairmanship.

Tanzania yesterday handed over the chair of the Standing Committee of Senior Officials of SADC to Mozambique, highlighting four major feats over the past one year.

Outgoing committee chairperson, Ambassador Brig Gen Wilbert Ibuge, who is also the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, handed over the chairmanship to incoming chairperson, Ambassador Alfredo Nuvunga, Director for Regional and Continental Integration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Republic of Mozambique.

The yesterday's handover event raised the curtain for the handing over of the chair of the SADC council of ministers on Wednesday while next Monday, President John Magufuli is scheduled to hand over the regional bloc's chairmanship to the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi.

Shortly after symbolically handing over the chair during the videoconferencing in Dar es Salaam, Brig Gen Ibuge said the regional bloc managed to register tangible successes despite challenges brought by the Covid-19, which forced the adoption of videoconferencing in conducting its businesses.

Apart from adoption of Kiswahili as the official language of the SADC, the previous one year witnessed preparation of regional guidelines for harmonising and facilitating movement of critical goods and services across the region during Covid-19 pandemic.

During its chairpersonship, Tanzania succeeded to improve and eventually recommended for improvement of two drafts-- SADC Development Vision 2050 and Regional Indicative Strategy Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030.

The two documents are set for consideration to the Council of Ministers at this sitting.

"As we hand over chairmanship, we look forward to the next meeting in March 2021 that Mozambique would lead all member states in formalising these two documents.

We are happy we (Tanzania) have managed to bring SADC, where it is supposed to be during this period of one year, although there was a big challenge of Covid-19," Brig Gen Ibuge stated.

On her part, Ambassador of Mozambique to Tanzania, Monica Mussa thanked the SADC chairmanship of President Magufuli, saying he has advocated for development for all member states.

Ambassador Mussa said all member countries stood for economic development, with the industrialisation agenda during Magufuli's leadership of the regional bloc.

She welcomed other member states to Mozambique as her country now assumes the chairmanship of the regional body.