BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – His Majesty King Mswati III says the 43rd Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Governments held in Luanda, Angola, was a resounding success.
His Majesty said this when delivering a report of his trip at Ludzidzini Royal Residence.
The King said he was 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.
“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,” he said.
In addition, His Majesty said 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, they looked at how SADC can address issues of human and financial capital.
“Many countries within SADC have natural resources and we produce a lot of raw materials, but without value addition. As such, SADC encouraged us to cooperate in this regard. We agreed this must extend to other areas such as energy, agriculture and trade, among others,” said His Majesty.
He further revealed that they agreed to make this the SADC that their 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.
The King also reported that they had a successful prayer service at the beginning of the year in which they called for the silencing of guns as per the African Union’s call. He told them that emaSwati heeded to this call and that peace now prevails in Eswatini.
“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,”
“They wished us well in 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,” said His Majesty.
They further reminded each other about Vision 2063. Where they 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.
