Presidents of South Africa, Madagascar and Mozambique left Malawi last evening for their respective countries after attending the 41st SADC Summit on Tuesday in Lilongwe.
Madagascar’s President Andrey Rajoelina, former SADC Chair and President of Mozambique Felipe Nyusi and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa have left through the Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe.
The three were seen off at the Airport by Cabinet Ministers, who included Minister of Information Gospel Kazako. Several others are expected to leave today, a day when the Summit is officially expected to end.
In his welcoming remarks to the Heads of States attending the 41st SADC Summit, President Dr Lazarus Chakwera said their attendance signifies the leaders’ unwavering commitment to making SADC a success story.
Dr Chakwera said the region must pull its efforts together to fight off a devastating COVID-19 pandemic, which he said is not an issue to be merely navigated but resolved.
“We must remember that the pandemic is not merely a challenge to be navigated, but a problem to be resolved.The revival of our economies depends on our collective ability to dispose of this existential threat. It is therefore imperative that we keep up and step up the efforts we are making as SADC to comply with the guidelines we already have for stopping this pandemic in its tracks,” said Dr Chakwera.
In her introductory remarks, outgoing Southern African Development Community (SADC) Executive Secretary Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, called on member states to step up efforts to deal with the many challenges facing the region, including the COVID-19 global health crisis. She said the pandemic has exerted pressure on economies already shaken by a global economic downturn. Tax who assumed office in 2013 and will be handing over to a new executive secretary at the Summit, thanked member states for supporting her during her tenure of office. She said after 40 years of its existence, member States should work extra harder to make SADC a vibrant regional bloc.
