News / Africa
Mugabe hands over SADC chairmanship to Ian Khama
17 Aug 2015 at 20:10hrs | Views
President Robert Mugabe has handed over the chairmanship of SADC to Botswana President, Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama after a year at the helm of the 15-member regional grouping.
The 35th SADC Summit at the Gaborone International Conference Centre in Botswana saw President Mugabe giving President Khama the chairmanship badge, marking the end of his reign.
In his acceptance speech, President Khama pledged to continue with the industrialisation agenda, which has been the hallmark of his predecessor's reign since taking over during the 34th SADC Summit held in Victoria Falls last year.
Earlier on, Mugabe addressed the summit on a historic day that marked the 23rd anniversary of the SADC Day, which marks the transformation of the Southern Africa Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) into the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) on 17 August 1992.
Outgoing SADC chairman hailed the 15-member regional bloc for ensuring Southern Africa is the most peaceful and stable region on the continent.
During his tenure as SADC chairman, President Mugabe has been vocal about the need for Africa to take ownership of its resources and he still feels the region must stop exporting materials in their raw form.
SADC is also in the process of strengthening collaboration with other regional groupings such as COMESA.
People should always be at the centre of SADC programmes and women and the youth are the backbone of economies, noted Mugabe.
When President Mugabe took over from Malawi as the SADC chairman, the bloc adopted the theme, 'SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation, Leveraging the Region's Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development Through Beneficiation and Value Addition.'
The 35th SADC Summit at the Gaborone International Conference Centre in Botswana saw President Mugabe giving President Khama the chairmanship badge, marking the end of his reign.
In his acceptance speech, President Khama pledged to continue with the industrialisation agenda, which has been the hallmark of his predecessor's reign since taking over during the 34th SADC Summit held in Victoria Falls last year.
Earlier on, Mugabe addressed the summit on a historic day that marked the 23rd anniversary of the SADC Day, which marks the transformation of the Southern Africa Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) into the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) on 17 August 1992.
Outgoing SADC chairman hailed the 15-member regional bloc for ensuring Southern Africa is the most peaceful and stable region on the continent.
During his tenure as SADC chairman, President Mugabe has been vocal about the need for Africa to take ownership of its resources and he still feels the region must stop exporting materials in their raw form.
SADC is also in the process of strengthening collaboration with other regional groupings such as COMESA.
People should always be at the centre of SADC programmes and women and the youth are the backbone of economies, noted Mugabe.
When President Mugabe took over from Malawi as the SADC chairman, the bloc adopted the theme, 'SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation, Leveraging the Region's Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development Through Beneficiation and Value Addition.'
Source - zbc
