Levy holds closed-door talks with 5 SADC leaders ahead of summit

President Levy Mwanawasa today paid courtesy calls on five of the heads of state and government that are in the country for the 27th Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit, which kicks off in Lusaka tomorrow.

President Mwanawasa first paid a courtesy call on Lesotho’s Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, who is the current Chairman of SADC, at his Pamodzi Hotel’s presidential suite.

President Mwanawasa will takeover the chairmanship of the regional body from
professor Mosisili during the Heads of State and Government to be held at Mulungushi
International Conference Centre.

After the closed door meeting, the two leaders shared light moments, with President
Mwanawasa saying he visited Professor Mosisili at the Hotel to feel whether the
former was ready to handover the chairmanship of SADC to him.

Professor Mosisili laughed and said, “I assured him that his shoulders were broad
enough to carry the responsibility”.

President Mwanawasa later moved to pay a courtesy call on his Tanzanian counterpart,
Jakaya Kikwete, with whom he shared light moments too before going into closed door
meeting at the same Pamodzi Hotel.

He later went Intercontinental Hotel to meet Presidents Festus Mogae of Botswana,
Bingu Wa Mtarika of Malawi and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Other heads of state that had already arrived by press time were Armando Guebuza of
Mozambique, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, King Mswati III of Swaziland and
Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia.

Those that were being expected by press time were Angola’s Eduardo Dos Santos,
Madagascar’s Mark Ravalomanana, Democratic Republic of Congo’s Joseph Kabila and
Mauritius’ Sir Anerood Jugnauth.  

Yesterday, President Mwanawasa said in his address to the nation that SADC member
states should step up their collective effort if the region was to achieve
sustainable economic development.

He said the summit was important to the SADC region and Zambia, noting that, “All
our neighbours will be looking up to us for leadership over the 12 months as we face
the daunting development challenges that lie ahead”.

Tomorrow’s SADC heads of State and Government summit is the first one Zambia is
hosting since April 1, 1980, when the Southern African Development Co-ordinating
Conference (SADCC) was born in Lusaka.