At the meeting, SADC Secretariat announced that the next Ordinary Summit will take place in Maputo in 2012, when Mozambique will also take over the rotating presidency from Angola.
During the event, the Heads of State and Government or their representatives of SADC signed two protocols on Finance, Investment and Against Money Laundering and the other on Political, Defence, and Security.
The summit has also adopted a Declaration of Solidarity with the People and Government of the Republic of Somalia, a country that in the last few months has been struggling to cope with the worst drought and famine of recent times that has already killed thousands of people.
Addressing the summit in his capacity as Deputy Chairperson, Guebuza urged member states to embrace an open dialogue to deal with problems that may arise in their own countries, since this is the only way to ensure peace, security and stability in the region.
“The only alternative to peace is peace itself. We have to promote a culture of harmony and well-being while aware of our interdependence for regional integration”, said Guebuza, stressing that the Luanda summit laid solid foundations for SADC’s reaffirmation in the regional, African and global context.
For his turn, Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who was elected SADC Chairperson, pointed out that this regional body should continue to strive for a spirit of unity of thought and action in pursuit of the best ways to lift the region out of poverty towards the path of development.
“We have already identified these pathways. We have already identified endogenous and exogenous obstacles. We need patience and dexterity to implement projects and programmes for regional integration because they happen at different speeds and different stages”, said the newly elected SADC Chairperson.
Dos Santos warned that the SADC is not a homogenous economic area, since there are countries with comparatively advanced economies. Therefore, he urged member countries to comply with the rules governing the functioning of the community to ensure that benefits of integration are shared in equal terms.
If the rules are not respected, warned dos Santos, “we run the risk of entrenching poverty in some countries for the benefit of others”.
Dos Santos also urged political actors in Zimbabwe, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo to work closely together to overcome their differences and work towards the establishment of a climate of peace, stability and security.
He ended his speech calling the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to stop its operations in Libya and to open a space for a constructive dialogue.
Currently SADC has a membership of 15 Member States, namely; Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Post published in: Africa News