… As King debriefs on SADC Summit.
BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
MBABANE – “We were warmly welcomed by the President, the Government and the people of Angola. The entire SADC event went well, from the opening ceremony to the Summit.”
These were the words of His Majesty King Mswati III when delivering a report to the nation about the 43rd Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Governments held in Luanda, Angola. His Majesty delivered the debrief on his trip at Ludzidzini Royal Residence on Saturday night following his return.
“After the opening sessions, we had a closed session where we shared ideas as a region. We looked at several matters, including peace and security and how the region was progressing given the many challenges faced by the region,” said His Majesty.
“It was clear that no country can live in isolation and no country can succeed without cooperating with others. As per the theme of this year’s summit, we looked at how SADC can address issues of human and financial capital,” revealed His Majesty.
“Many countries within SADC have natural resources and we produce a lot of raw materials, but without value addition. As such, SADC encouraged that we cooperate in this regard. We agreed this must extend to other areas such as energy, agriculture and trade, among others,” expanded His Majesty on the economic discussions from the summit.
“We agreed to make this the SADC that our forefathers and founders envisioned, one that will promote regional integration to ensure the growth of the region. Security was a major topic under discussion and we also presented a report in this regard,” noted His Majesty.
“We reported that we had a successful prayer service at the beginning of the year in which we called for the silencing of guns as per the African Union’s call. We told them that emaSwati heeded to this call and that peace now prevails in Eswatini,” further reported His Majesty the King.
“We also reported about our national elections and the overwhelming registration numbers we recently witnessed. We also taught them a bit about our Tinkhundla democracy and they were happy to learn about our home-grown system of democracy,” added His Majesty.
“They wished us well on the upcoming elections together with other countries that are having elections this year and next year. As usual, they will be sending observers to monitor our national elections,” further noted the King during his debrief this weekend.
“We reminded each other about Vision 2063. We also addressed the conflict currently taking place across the globe, including in Niger, and prayed for a peaceful solution as such has a negative effect, including the displacement of people, food shortages and others,” added His Majesty when discussing current affairs and future goals discussed during the summit.
