CDEDI urges SADC Summit delegates to address regional youth unemployment and land crisis in Malawi

The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has urged Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) member states to take the upcoming summit as an opportunity to discuss and find lasting solution to youth unemployment, which he said is a looming crisis for the region if it is not nipped in the bud.

CDEDI executive director Sylvester Namiwa has also challenged SADC Heads of State and Government to tackle land crisis in Malawi, specifically in Thyolo and Mulanje districts, and in other parts of the country, where vast pieces of this natural resource, were snatched away from the locals by some private investors, through dubious means.

Namiwa made the remarks during a press briefing he held in Lilongwe on Friday.

The CDEDI director was flanked by Charles Mkozomba and other officials from the organization.

He disclosed that CDEDI has planned a number of activities for the attention of the delegates to summit, which is schedule to take place in the Capital, Lilongwe, in Malawi, from Monday, 9th – Thursday, 19th August, 2021.

“CDEDI is geared to bring to the attention of the SADC delegates, issues that are affecting the region in general, and Malawi in particular. During this 47th SADC summit, CDEDI will lead like-minded local, regional, and international advocacy institutions, as well as individual activists, in advocating, and lobbying for a number of issues, affecting Africa in general, and the SADC member countries in particular,” he said.

Namiwa stated that CDEDI is interested in what he termed as deteriorating human rights situation in Malawi, whose leader, President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, is the incoming SADC chairperson.

He said they would also be interested to know how the delegates will tackle concerns raised by the Rwandan Refugees and asylum seekers, currently living in Malawi, which recently signed a pact with Rwanda.

“This pact, is likely to make Malawi contravene some of the international peace protocols, the country signed and promised to abide by, given Rwanda’s tendency of hunting down its nationals that fled the country due to political persecution. The situation in Mozambique, where SADC must ensure that foreign elements there, should not be allowed, and that the country’s mineral and natural resources, together with the citizens there, must be protected,” he said.

On the other hand, Mkozomba said, among others, that CDEDI will conduct joint press briefings with some like-minded civil society organisations, and individual activists; present petitions and letters to the SADC secretariat and hoisting and display of placards and banners in strategic places, that would make it possible for both the delegates and the media covering the summit, to capture the messages fully.

He said the activities will be held randomly.

Meanwhile, Namiwa has disclosed that as a law-abiding organization, CDEDI wrote the Lilongwe City Assembly (LCC), on August 2, 2021, to notify them about the activities that we intend to carry out.

But so far, CDEDI has not yet received any official acknowledgement of our notice to the Lilongwe City Assembly.

“Nonetheless, CDEDI will proceed with its planned activities, since it is our constitutional right to do so. However, CDEDI is not surprised with the LCC’s deliberate silence, as such behaviour validates our concern on Malawi’s worsening human rights situation, which is one of the issues we have picked on Malawi, to be put to the attention of the delegates to the SADC summit, so that a red flag should be raised on the same!” said Namiwa.

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