The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has underscored the need for member countries to carefully strategize at national level in order to make the regional integration agenda a reality.
Outgoing Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Chairperson Professor Pakalitha Mosisili stated that deepening of regional integration can only be realised if adequate and cost effective infrastructure is in place.
He said the region, in line with the theme of this summit ‘scaling up the
implementation of regional infrastructure development’ has realised the need for
strengthening capacities to develop infrastructure at national and regional levels.
Prof Mosisili, who is Lesotho Prime Minister said when he officially opened the 27th
Heads of State and Government summit in Lusaka today that there is need to adopt
radical measures to finance the infrastructure gap in the region.
NEPAD has already made provisions for financing projects that include one in
transport, three communications, six energy projects which are being packaged in to
bankable projects.
” We are grateful for the $8.2 million allocated to NEPAD for infrastructure
projects by our cooperating partners , we urge the G8 countries among others to
honour their pledges that amount to several billions of dollars.
And Prof. Mosisili says the challenges of overlapping membership and configurations
within the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with the European Union
would continue to haunt the region as uncertainty continues to obscure the
collective destiny.
He stressed the overlapping memberships will pose a big challenge to the region in
the near future as it moves towards deeper integration within SADC.
He however urged member countries to speedily address key obligations at the
national level to ensure that the Free Trade Area is realised by 2008 , a custom
union in 2010 and the common market in 2015.
Meanwhile Prof. Mosilili has urged the region to seek to achieve overarching
adjective of poverty reduction through deepening integration, global competitiveness
and export led growth.
He said it imperative that the region collectively fight for a SADC wide enabling
investment climate , complementary and supportive investment and industrial policies
as well as a fair multilateral trade regime.
Prof. Mosilili observed the current one is characterised by skewed market access ,
double standard on subsidies and other non reciprocal trade measures.
He said the region has to promote and increase trade among its members by focussing
more that ever on market integration and all efforts that add value to regional
integration.
Prof. Mosilili added it is important that the region reviews the energy cris as
energy falls will derail programmes and slow down the economic growth.
He said SADC needs to adopt clear strategy to address the matter with as an integral
part of the regional integration framework.
” Beyond energy, we must commit to goods moving between and within our countries
easily and without ant barriers by opening up all transportation corridors,’ he
added .
He said special attention should be paid to the effective operationalisation of
corridors whose impact on landlocked countries such as Lesotho has a telling effect
on the landing costs of both imports and exports.
He said the Almaty declaration which seeks to unlock routes to sea for land locked
countries should remain one of the guiding principles.
IS PF falling apart?
Seems they are. Its very frustrating for the Zambian people by voting opposition they think they will strike a good balance in parliament. Not to talk about this particular vote, but our MPs are too focused on lobbying the MMD for ministerial positions. In the end these MPs are MMD on opposition seats.
#Francis, no you are wrong an MP has a right to withhod his vote in anything if it doesnt suit him or her. You cannot be forced on something you dont accept. Freedom and right of speech should prevail. That other PF MP is wrong in forcing his colleage to vote when didnt want to.
Boys we have the raw materials and all need is to move on instead of wasting time. Trade among yourself. EU is allowed because they have an aging population.
#3 Yeah, thats why I indicated that i was not making reference to this particular vote. I cant suggest that opposition MPs have to oppose everything govt has to do. But it somehow points to a potential that once the MMD start to play around with sensitive legislation they still manage to buy enough opposition MPs. I dont even understand what they were voting on, and if it was that insignificant that Sakwiba Sikota should abstain.
EASY and Francis… Dont you think this particular withholding of the vote was about the wrangle between Sata and Nchanga MP? We know that MPs cant be forced to vote. But all political parties have internal procedures to follow. e.g if PF is formulating a piece of legislation, They first deal with it internally and iron out internal differences before they take it to paliament. Chimumbwa is just dareing Sata. He wants to be expelled. But Sata is smart, he is waiting to chi mumbwa mumbwa to pull enough rope to hang himself. I try to be non partisan on most political subjects, and i believe two can not walk together unless they be agreed. What has been prevailing between PF and Chimumbwa if the reports are accurate is not healthy. If Chimumbwa does not agree with PF he should find a party that is in line with his convictions rather than creare acrymony. His withholding of the vote should be bases on principle not spite.
SAGE, true you’ve reminded me i have read such stories involving this MP. I agree he’s just daring Sata, which is why he was quick to tell his colleagues that he didnt care anything for Sata. But thats a betrayal of people’s confidence. I think a presidential candidate or the party pulls voters in our setting more than the calibre of the MP thmeselves. Let them just expel him from PF, he’s already an MMD cadre anyway.
Francis… You are right on the money. Where is Nakazwe? These PF chaps forget that they where elected because people wanted Sata. Sata is not doing the obvious because he wants to show maturity. He is proving that he is rational and ready to work with people within his party. Does anyone know where Nakazwe is? Thats how chimumbwa will end up. Besides LPM is slowly loosing the political clout. In politics you slowly withdraw you alegency from the out going president. in 2 years LPM will start facing internal opposition with in MMD. becuase he will slowly become irrelevant. Polotical survivers will start looking at who is the next top dog. Thats when Chimumbwa will regreat having left PF.
To avod such Banamakwekwe the parties should be a clause that once you start crossing borders you are not allowed to stand again. This already been implemented by MMD in the recent BY election. I dont know where Nakazwe is ? This all we want
Chumumbwa wants the Zambian taxpayer to spend K5-10 billion to finance his next political move. This is getting really stupid. But this move could backfire as Sage observes. Easy, there was a proposal to the ERTC that if a standing MP crosses to another party, his former party should simply nominate an MP to replace them. It makes so much sense to anyone except Levy, Shikapwasha, George Kunda, etc.
Nakazwe is around Lusaka waiting for the next diplomatic posting. It seems those jobs are for reserved for cadres, friends and relatives as a form of retirement as HK said. Thats why many people are disappointed with LPM.
Derrick Chitala has even abandoned his studies at UNZA to go to Libya. Its a suspicious move.
Zimbabweans urged to keep peace
Mr Mugabe used to be able to rely on support from his counterparts
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has called on the people of Zimbabwe to maintain peace at all costs.
He was speaking at the opening of a summit of southern African leaders at which Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis is expected to be discussed.
Countries in the region had all gone through difficult times, but had not resorted to violence, he said.
Observers say the remarks are highly unusual as African leaders are careful not to criticise one another openly.
The BBC’s Peter Biles in the Zambian, capital, Lusaka, says Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe received a loud round of applause when he was introduced at the start of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) summit.
But behind the scenes there is now clearly disquiet about the impact the Zimbabwe crisis could have on the economies of the neighbouring countries, he says.
Other nations taking part in the summit include Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland.
‘Help’
“My advice to my brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe is: Maintain peace and stability at all costs,” Mr Mwanawasa said, AFP news agency reports.
Mr Mwanawasa said leaders must be mindful of Zimbabwe’s difficulties
“In the meantime, Sadc is there for you. This organisation is always ready to assist where it can to resolve the problems affecting member countries.”
He said southern African leaders must be mindful of the difficulties that Zimbabweans were currently experiencing.
In March, Mr Mwanawasa likened the crisis in Zimbabwe to the sinking of the Titanic.
At the summit, South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected to report behind closed doors on his efforts to mediate between the Zimbabwean government and opposition.
Earlier, Tomaz Salomao, executive secretary of Sadc, told a news conference that the grouping had a range of options for Zimbabwe, including a “hard line”, “quiet diplomacy” or a “different” method.
A senior Zambian official said Sadc had grown tired of the deepening political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe but he did not have a resolution, saying Mr Mbeki’s progress report would determine a course of action.
Old support
But the BBC’s Africa editor, Martin Plaut, says confronting Mr Mugabe goes against the grain of everything Sadc leaders hold dear.
All the leaders were given a warm welcome in Lusaka
The policy of apartheid drove South Africans into exile in the 1960’s.
Then, under Ian Smith, Rhodesia declared independence in 1965.
The liberation movements found natural homes in Zambia, Mozambique, Angola and Tanzania – countries that formed the backbone of what were called the “frontline states.”
Their armed wings fought shoulder-to-shoulder against the white regimes.
Rhodesian troops and South African special forces ranged across the region, killing their opponents as they went.
None of the region’s leaders have forgotten this, and correspondents say Mr Mugabe used to be able to rely on the full support of his fellow leaders in southern Africa.
But the fall-out from Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis is now having a huge impact on the entire region, with increasing numbers of economic migrants fleeing Zimbabwe and settling in neighbouring countries.
Observers say there is a new mood of realism developing in the region, with Zimbabwe now seen as more than just a domestic problem.
Gentlemen I have not read the full report of what u are trying to discuss concerning PF and its MPs but I beg to differ with u in the manner u characterise Mr chumumbwa when casting a vote in parliament one has to look at the interest of the electorate before you consider where your party stands.Because we have been so much focused on politics and our Mps think in order for them to stay in power they have to put their partes ahead of the pipo.Sage I consider u as one of respected contributor to this blog but bro whats wrong wit challenging Sata and if one challenges Sata that means they want to cross to the other party?Even when they did not want to cross such incinuation make them consider the idea.Iam an advocate of having the pipo to matter in the decision that these pipo make than Individuals.
Defending the imperialists
By Michael Sata,
Tuesday August 14, 2007 Print Article Email Article
I appreciate Laura Miti’s provocative writing in defence of the imperialist onslaught on Zimbabwe. It is sad for an intelligent lady like Miti to fail to understand the basic economic and political realities of the world, the southern African region and Zimbabwe.
Miti is talking of Zimbabwe having once been a vibrant country, but she is not talking about Zambia’s economic potential, which made the Europeans create the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in order to milk its wealth.
Miti has also chosen to see a speck in Mugabe’s eye and talks of his brutalities against the press and the opposition political leaders, but in the country in which she lives, opposition political leaders have been equally brutalised. I was imprisoned for 40 days on trumped up charges. Apart from that the Zambia police armed with Chinese weapons and long batons have been chasing and beating innocent women trying to earn a living by selling tomatoes on the streets.
When the MMD came to power in 1991, its first task was to dismantle the commandist political and economic structure that had been imposed on the country. Since the economy had completely collapsed, the government had to attract new investment into the country by providing tax concessions,
including those given to the mining companies. These tax concessions were for a period of 14 years only, and were supposed to be revised in 2005. The Mwanawasa regime has, however, deliberately ignored that. Inconsequence, even though Miti talks of vibrant copper prices, they have no bearing on the lives of the people of Zambia.
Miti also bemoans the poverty in Zimbabwe, when Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world with the lowest per capita income in the Southern African Development Community and contributes only 5 per cent to the regional GDP. Unemployment in Zambia is also still rife, but the government still allows the Chinese to export unprocessed copper ores for refining in China and thereby creating jobs in China.
Why has the brain drain from Zambia continued? Our teachers and health workers including medical doctors trained at a great cost have continued to flee the country.
If the shelves in Zimbabwean shops are empty, those in Zambia are full with inferior Chinese goods, which the majority of our people cannot even afford. The cost of fuel in Zimbabwe is much cheaper than in Zambia and though it might be said to be erratic, fuel shortages are not strange in Zambia either. To conclude, people who choose to write on Zimbabwe should not mislead the Zambian public by giving them a false sense of security and wellbeing.
Zimbabwe’s economic woes are due to economic sanctions imposed by the imperialist powers. The economic problems in Zimbabwe should, therefore, not be attributed to President Mugabe.
I for one, and the Patriotic Front will therefore render our support to the defense of Zimbabwe’s independence and integrity and independence of the African continent
#14 mmmmmmmm! is all I can say for now. So what do you say Kuku?
For the first time I absolutely agree with Sata on the Zimbabwean issues but not his misapplied statement that President Mugabe’s resolve for prosperous Zimbabwean natives is also Sata’s passion for Zambians. I must confess like many enlightened African Nationals, am well knowledgeable on the history of Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai is not a leadership material to rule but a purveyor of worst order imperialism. He has only perfected in pressing up for some foreign interest against Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe would be gravely faltering to look to Tsvangirai for alternative leadership. The man has instinctively surrendered his soul to bidders.
ZAMBIAN OPPOSITION BLASTS MDC
The Herald (Harare)
By Innocent Gore and Munyaradzi Huni
Harare
ZAMBIA’S main opposition leader Mr Michael Sata has blasted the Morgan Tsvangirai MDC delegation and its network of non-governmental organisations here as a “harem of Western agents that has descended on Lusaka to earn breadcrumbs by selling out their birthright”.
There is a heavy presence of the Tsvangirai faction delegation here, being led by faction vice-president Ms Thokozani Khupe, with representatives of a number of civic organisations in tow in their attempt to demonise Zimbabwe at the 27th Sadc Summit that opens today.
Meanwhile, President Mugabe, accompanied by First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and senior Government officials, arrived in Lusaka yesterday.
He was met at Lusaka International Airport by Zambian Minister of Education Professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa, Foreign Affairs Minister Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Industry and International Trade Minister Cde Obert Mpofu, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Cde Patrick Chinamasa and Finance Minister Cde Samuel Mumbengegwi.
Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi was already in Lusaka attending the Council of Ministers meetings that drafted the summit agenda.
Soon after his arrival, President Mugabe was taken to his hotel where host President, Mr Levy Mwanawasa, paid him a courtesy call.
In a statement dismissing the MDC side show; Mr Sata, leader of the main opposition Patriotic Front, said he admires President Mugabe for his courage and passion in fighting for the rights of poor people.
Mr Sata said the Zimbabwean opposition delegation was in Lusaka to sell out at the behest of their Western paymasters.
Said Mr Sata: “One, therefore, does not need to be a rocket scientist to notice that this harem of Western agents has descended upon Lusaka during the current Sadc Summit, in their numbers, to earn breadcrumbs by selling out on their birthright, against Zimbabwe’s national interests. This is at the behest of their Western paymasters.
“Zimbabwe’s land reform is now complete and no longer reversible. Government is now preoccupied with affirmative policies to empower the new farmer with the correct attitudes, skills, finances and inputs to maximise both productivity and profits.”
He described the MDC and “its network of NGOs”, along with some academics, church leaders and pressure groups, as “paid foot soldiers of the anti-Zimbabwe crusade”.
“They specialise in fabricating the evidence that supports the allegations of bad governance, human rights violations, (absence of) rule of law, Government interference with the judiciary, denial of Press freedom, corruption, political intolerance and repression of the opposition.
“They also talk of selective enforcement of existing laws, enactment of draconian and repressive legislation, lack of democracy and electoral fraud as well as lack of transparency and accountability that now pervade international opinion on Zimbabwe.
“For example, the now self-discredited Archbishop Pius Ncube of the Catholic Church in Bulawayo makes a living out of rabid unsubstantiated accusations against President Mugabe and the Government, and even praying publicly for his death,” said Mr Sata.
In an interview, Mr Sata said he admired President Mugabe because “material wealth accumulation is not his preoccupation”.
“He was vulnerable to be corrupted as someone who was in power, but he decided to remain poor and fight for the poor. Cde Mugabe’s struggle is my struggle.”
On Tuesday, Ms Khupe held a Press conference that was largely snubbed by the Zambian media where she claimed the Government was solely responsible for the problems in Zimbabwe.
The media here has apparently refused to buy the rhetoric.
For instance, Zambia’s top-selling private newspaper, The Post, wrote an editorial yesterday supporting the Government of Zimbabwe, saying, among other things:
“It is very clear to us that the United States and Britain have not and are not playing a positive role in Zimbabwe. And anyone who is looking to these two countries for a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis is wasting time.”
This is the second time in as many months that Ms Khupe and her delegation have hit a brickwall in their attempts to demonise Zimbabwe abroad.
At the end of June they were in Accra, Ghana, ahead of the African Union summit with the intention of presenting a draft resolution condemning the Government for alleged human rights abuses to the AU General Assembly. However, ordinary Ghanaians, university students and the media gave the MDC-led delegation a torrid time, forcing them to leave the country before the summit opened.
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is expected to present a report on the political dialogue in Zimbabwe to the Sadc Organ on Defence, Politics and Security, which will, in turn, report to the summit.
President Mbeki was tasked by the Sadc Extraordinary Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in March this year to mediate on the political situation in Zimbabwe and convene a dialogue between the Government and the MDC.
Sadc Executive Secretary Mr Tomaz Salamao, who was also tasked by the Extraordinary Summit to undertake a study on the economic situation in Zimbabwe and propose measures on how the bloc can assist Zimbabwe mitigate the effects of the illegal Western sanctions, is also expected to report to the summit.
Mr Salamao has been to Zimbabwe twice during which he held meetings with officials from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and several Government economic ministries and departments. He also met President Mugabe during one of his visits.
Also on the summit agenda is regional economic integration, infrastructure development and the launch of the Sadc Standby Brigade.
Sadc member states are scaling up the provision of regional infrastructure, a critical foundation for the speedy realisation of regional economic integration objectives.
Infrastructure support intervention has been placed at the core of the region’s community-building agenda and concerted efforts are being made to ensure the availability of an integrated, efficient and cost-effective system to sustain regional economic development and trade.
The Sadc Standby Brigade is part of an AU initiative to develop a common security policy by 2010. Sadc is one of the five continental regions that are each contributing a brigade to form an African Standby Force.
The summit is also expected to adopt the Protocol on Gender and Development, which will provide a legal and institutional framework for the region to accelerate implementation of the commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Meanwhile, Vice President Joseph Msika is the Acting President.