SADC Endorses Mozambique Elections

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation has congratulated the ruling FRELIMO party of Mozambique for winning the general elections held that country recently.

Frelimo retained power in the October 9 national elections, extending its five-decade rule in the Southern African state and its candidate 47-year-old Daniel Chapo is set to replace President Filipe Nyusi amid accusations of fraud by the opposition.

Chapo, who won 70 percent of the votes, becomes Mozambique’s fifth president since its independence from Portugal in 1975, taking over from President Nyusi who is stepping down after serving the stipulated two terms.

Tanzanian Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Minister, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo congratulated Chapo, together with Botswana’s Duma Boko of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and Mauritius’ new Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam when he opened the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation meeting at the SADC Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden, on the outskirts of the capital.

Kombo said since assuming the Organ chairmanship in August, Tanzania has been hard on its toes to promote peace and good governance in the region as stipulated in the regional body’s protocols on politics, defence and security cooperation, and led electoral observer missions to Mozambique, Botswana and Mauritius, while another mission is on the ground for the forthcoming elections in Namibia.

“I wish to commend all these member states for successfully conducting their elections in accordance with their national legislations as well as the revised SADC Principles and Guidelines governing democratic elections,” he said.

“While these processes were concluded in some member states, I understand that they are inconclusive in others and I wish to appeal to all political stakeholders to remain calm and exercise restraint while the electoral processes are being finalised.”

The summit, a follow-up to the 44th SADC Summit held at the same venue last August during which Zimbabwe assumed the rotational chairmanship, is aimed at addressing pressing regional political and security issues, including the future of the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC), whose lifespan comes to a close at the end of next month.

SAMIDRC was deployed to assist the DRC government in addressing the ongoing conflict in the eastern regions, particularly in North Kivu province, where violence has claimed over 1 000 lives and displaced more than six million people.

SADC leaders are expected to assess SAMIDRC’s impact and deliberate on whether to extend or reconfigure its mandate to better support peace and stability efforts.

Results of the extraordinary meeting are expected to shape the region’s approach to its most pressing challenges and strengthen the framework for regional unity and progress.

On Monday, the Standing Committee of Senior Officials and the Finance Committee convened under the chairmanship of Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs and International Trade permanent secretary, Abert Chimbindi.

The SADC Council of Ministers also met while Tuesday will see the meeting of the Senior Officials and that of the Ministerial Committee of the Organ Troika chaired by Tanzania.

The SADC Organ Troika Summit will convene on Wednesday leading to the Heads of State and Government Summit in the afternoon of the same day.
New Ziana