Mbabane: Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini is in Lilongwe, Malawi attending the Extra-Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and government which begins on Wednesday. The Extraordinary Summit and its preceding meetings that were scheduled to take place virtually from 5th – 7th January 2022have been rescheduled and will now take place from Tuesday 11th to Wednesday 12th January 2022.
On Tuesday, prior to the Extraordinary Summit, the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as Chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation will convene an Extraordinary SADC Organ Troika Summit, plus the personnel of contributing countries and Mozambique. A statement released by the Presidency says “The SADC Troika Summit will review progress of the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), which was deployed by the SADC to support Mozambique to combat terrorism and acts of violent extremism,”
The troops are fighting a growing Islamic insurgency that has killed over 3,000 people and displaced nearly 270,000 others since it started in 2017 in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado where a multi-billion-dollar offshore gas plant is under threat from the insurgents.
The personnel contributing countries from SADC are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
The Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government will be held on 12th January and Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi, in his capacity as the Chairperson of SADC, will Chair the Extraordinary Summit.
The Extraordinary Summit and its preceding meetings as outlined below will be held as follows:
- Extra-Ordinary Organ Troika Summit Plus the Personnel Contributing Countries (PCCS) and the Republic of Mozambique – 11 January 2022 at 0900hours
- Extra-Ordinary Council of Ministers – 11 January 2022 at 1700hours
- Extra-Ordinary SADC Summit – 12 January 2022 at 1100hours
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