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AU, UN to hear SADC position on sanctions, says Mnangagwa
18 Aug 2019 at 15:24hrs | Views
President Emmerson Mnangagwa says the unity among SADC member states regarding the removal of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe is humbling with the agreement set to be communicated to the African Union for onward communication to the United Nations.
In an exclusive interview with ZBC News on the sidelines of the ongoing 39th SADC Summit in Tanzania President Mnangagwa said he is pleased with the fruitful discussions at the summit regarding issues affecting the trading bloc.
"I'm happy that this time around SADC was unanimous on the need for economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe to be removed. The SADC Secretariat has been mandated to communicate the message to Africa Union which will communicate to the United Nations. The discussions were emphatic as the basis for sanctions are no-longer there anymore and they were illegal after all," he said.
President Mnangagwa further highlighted that issues regarding the SADC Parliamentary Forum were discussed and what is left is to come up with functions and its jurisdiction over member states.
Setting up of a SADC Fund outside what member states contribute as well as the Stand-by Force and intra-trade were also discussed at the summit said President Mnangagwa.
"The need to promote intra-regional trade came under deliberation and we are pleased with the developments as intra-trade has increased to 20 percent from as low as 16 percent" he said.
On the assumption of the chairmanship of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security President Mnangagwa said he is taking over from Zambian President Edgar Lungu who gave a report on developments in DRC and Lesotho.
"Issues of concern are on Malawi and those related to the DRC and the Great Lakes Region so we have to meet and discuss concerns on the eastern part of DRC. We are happy that Mozambique has reconciled with Renamo. For the next twelve months we will look forward to the elections in Botswana and Namibia," he said.
In an exclusive interview with ZBC News on the sidelines of the ongoing 39th SADC Summit in Tanzania President Mnangagwa said he is pleased with the fruitful discussions at the summit regarding issues affecting the trading bloc.
"I'm happy that this time around SADC was unanimous on the need for economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe to be removed. The SADC Secretariat has been mandated to communicate the message to Africa Union which will communicate to the United Nations. The discussions were emphatic as the basis for sanctions are no-longer there anymore and they were illegal after all," he said.
President Mnangagwa further highlighted that issues regarding the SADC Parliamentary Forum were discussed and what is left is to come up with functions and its jurisdiction over member states.
"The need to promote intra-regional trade came under deliberation and we are pleased with the developments as intra-trade has increased to 20 percent from as low as 16 percent" he said.
On the assumption of the chairmanship of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security President Mnangagwa said he is taking over from Zambian President Edgar Lungu who gave a report on developments in DRC and Lesotho.
"Issues of concern are on Malawi and those related to the DRC and the Great Lakes Region so we have to meet and discuss concerns on the eastern part of DRC. We are happy that Mozambique has reconciled with Renamo. For the next twelve months we will look forward to the elections in Botswana and Namibia," he said.
Source - zbc
