President Hakainde Hichilema has expressed commitment to ensuring the maintenance of peace, security and stability in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) as a remedy for development.
President Hichilema noted that as in-coming Chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, he takes up the role at a time when Africa is challenged with issues of peace, security and stability.
President Hichilema observed that SADC continues to be fragile in the areas of peace, security and stability, thus diverting attention from the core mandate of governments, which is developing nations.
The President said that taking up a new role, he answers to the call of protecting the people in the region and to better the operating environment.
He said this when he met a team from SADC Secretariat led by the Director of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs Kula Theletsane at Statehouse.
President Hichilema charged that those who continue to contravene against the peoples constitution are not eligible to serve as they do not understand what it means to dislocate economic activities.
The Head of State noted the need to maintain peace, security and stability in the region to allow individual countries to focus on the development agenda.
He said that resources ought to be channeled towards improving the livelihoods of citizens, which every leader in the region owes to the people they serve.
He explained that as sitting Chairperson, he will priorities on ensuring maintenance of peace, security and stability prevails so as to advance the welfare of people.
And the Head of State paid tribute to his predecessors for providing leadership to the Organ, while hoping to pick up from where they left off but with guidance from the SADC framework
The President added that if need be to do things outside the framework, it will be raised while following the due process for consideration.
“All this is to better what the Organ contributes to individual countries, we want to keep our societies civilised and developing,” President Hichilema stated.
He reiterated the importance of the SADC Organisation, among other regional bodies, towards enhancing the welfare of people.
And Director of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs Kula Theletsane noted that despite the challenges, the Secretariat will help President Hichilema with required expertise to do his job successfully as Chair of the Organ.
Mr Theletsane implored the President to lead the Organ strategically in dealing with the prevailing challenges of security and diplomacy in regard to the many challenges the region is facing.
He alleged that countries have been scared to hold each other accountable and is hopeful that with President Hichilema’s leadership, that it will be different.
Kula Thelestane, the head of the secretariat of defence and security affairs of SADC said the right things when he met HH at State House. His frustrations with SADC, the Southern African Development Community, are every technocrat’s frustrations. SADC is a mere mutual admiration society of our leaders where there are no do’s and don’ts. It is collection of flat tyres.
The Munangagwa is behaving?
Now SADC is beyond scr£w£d with this M@pp£t taking up such an important role…not that it was any better before
I don’t understand …in the first place the establishment of an Africon offices here in Zambia is against the SADC protocol. And someone is speaking about peace in the SADC region without shame..Father God kindly give some people a sense of shame in Jesus Christ. Zambia is for Zambians, Africa is for Africans not for idio.ts from the West who’s agenda is to keep Africa poor and continue stealing resources for free. Tired of puppet leaders, if indeed righteousness and justice are the foundation of Gods throne..May He Jehovah God Himself deal with foreigners that have been stealing our mineral resources. What a coward of a leader been told what to do. I miss KK,Levy,ECL, Sata ….not the puppet of the West.
Edgar have more peace and security whenever HH is out of country. When are you leaving again?
Without equal rights and justice for gays there can be no peace in africa