By EPN Reporter
MBABANE – Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini has landed safely at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda, where he is expected to be part of the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
The prime minister landed at the airport at 7 pm yesterday and he was accompanied by his wife Philile Dlamini (nee Kunene). He was also accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Pholile Shakantu and Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development Sikhumbuzo Dlamini, among other officials.
Dlamini is expected to join the ongoing summit today, where the Heads of State and Government of the NAM member countries are supposed to have their own summit. This summit is expected to continue tomorrow, which will be the last day of the 19th NAM Summit.
The summit started on Monday (January 15, 2024) when senior officials from the NAM member countries met to officially start the summit. On the following day, the senior officials continued with their meeting, where the economic and social affairs of the member countries were being discussed.
On Wednesday, ministers from the member countries met to discuss issues affecting their respective countries. The ministerial meeting continued yesterday and was wound up so that a report on what was discussed could be submitted today to the Heads of State and Governments. Among other things, the Heads of State and Governments are supposed to have a minute of silence in remembrance of their companions who passed away since the 18th NAM Summit, which was held in Baku, the capital City of Azerbaijan in 2019.
Tomorrow will be the last day of the Heads of State and Government Summit and on that day, Uganda will assume chairmanship of the NAM, taking over from Azerbaijan. Uganda will chair NAM until 2027. On Sunday, the delegates will depart from Uganda. That is when the prime minister will also be expected to depart for Italy, to be part of take part in the Italy-Africa Summit.
The summit is expected to take place on January 28 and 29, 2024, where Italy is expected to commit towards helping Africa in its development agenda. Italy is set to take over the presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) nations in 2024 and has pledged to make Africa a central theme while it is at the helm. The meeting is expected to also focus on energy production and how this resource can be made available in all African countries. According to media reports, the summit was supposed to take place in November last year, but could not, due to conflicts taking place in the European continent.
The Non-Aligned Movement has its origins in what has been referred to as the first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference, held from the 18th to the 24th of April 1955.
It is popularly known as the Bandung Conference (taking on the name of the City where it was held – Bandung, Indonesia). The Conference was attended by delegations from 29 governments, mostly from Asia, owing to the fact that most of present-day African states were still under colonial control.
The Bandung Conference was convened to discuss peace and the role of developing countries in the face of the raging Cold War, as well as economic development and the decolonization of countries under colonial occupation. In other words, Bandung was convened out of a desire by the convening countries not to be involved in the East-West ideological confrontation of the Cold War, but rather to focus on national independence struggles and their economic development.
The prime minister is expected to be back home at the end of this month.
