Mutharika to transfer SADC chairpersonship to Mugabe
Malawi President Peter Author Mutharika will officially handover the yearly SADC chairpersonship to the mercurial Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at the 34th summit to held at resort town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe during the weekend.
Barely, three months at the helm of the regional body, Mutharika will basically report work done by her predecessor former president Joyce Banda, who lost the chairpersonship by virtue of tumbling during Malawi’s May 20 tripartite 2014 polls.
The summit will be held under the theme, “SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition.”
SADC is also expected to develop a Strategy to implement this theme, which is key for industrialization in the SADC Region.
When she took over in 2013, Banda vowed to make SADC work for the people saying the region is embroiled in many socio-economic ills and yet the regional body seem to have neglected the people.
“When people hear our voices and observe our actions, they see that in reality, sometimes we do not always work for them. Our actions suggest that the poor should care for the poor,” said Banda.
Mutharika will present a report on the activities undertaken during the period under review.
The Malawi’s SADC Chairmanship was held under theme “Agriculture development and agro-industries: Key for Economic Growth and PovertyEradication in the SADC Region” focusing on the empowerment of women and the youth.
A brief statement from the Ministry of Information and Civic education claimed that Malawi spearheaded the development of the“SADC Strategy on Food and Nutrition Security” for 2015-2025 focusing on women and the youth.
“This strategy is primarily developed to achieve the core objective of our theme which is also in line with the target in the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) to reduce the population affected by extreme hunger,” the statement said.
The first phase of the ambitious Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan (RIDMP)is estimated at US$500 billion.
RIDMP among other things aims to deal with the region’s deficit in road, rail, ports, power, communication, water infrastructure and meteorology.
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