Opinion / Columnist
SADC to drive greater benefits from Mugabe's leadership
20 Aug 2014 at 09:47hrs | Views
As the curtain were brought down on the SADC Summit held in Victoria Falls on Tuesday, it is time to take stock on the benefits that the regional bloc is set to benefit from the chairmanship of President Robert Mugabe. President Mugabe was handed a 12 months mandate to lead the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The veteran President will provide quality leadership experience accrued over a period of time. He has seen it all, having been with the regional grouping since the inception of its predecessor, the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) in 1980. He is the only founding father who is still in the regional bloc. Thus, he knows all its corners and it will pay dividend if member states take this opportunity as a learning phase.
With President Mugabe at the helm, SADC will hopefully revert to its founding objectives. Some of the chief objectives behind the formation of the group are to promote self-sustaining development on the basis of collective self-reliance and interdependence of member states as well as to promote and to defend peace and security.
While SADC's vision was to reduce dependence on western countries, some of the member states are 100% dependent on these countries. Some have national budgets that are largely donor funded. This gravely compromises the sovereignty of these member states, as one who pays the piper always calls the tune. President Mugabe is a firm critic of dependence syndrome. During the recent 34th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit held in Victoria Falls, President Mugabe revealed that 60% of SADC programmes are donor funded.
SADC's theme for this year echoes the president's conviction on collective self-reliance of the region. This year's theme is ‘SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation Leveraging the Region's diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition.' President Mugabe is alive to the fact that Africa is a rich continent with poor inhabitants. If the rich resources in the region were value added and beneficiated, SADC programmes could be internally funded.
The government of Zimbabwe is also putting special attention to the beneficiation and value addition of its resources like minerals. SADC has to learn from Zimbabwe and it must pluck a leaf from the country's five year economic blue print, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset). The objectives of the blue print are in tandem with SADC's theme for this year.
President Mugabe will take advantage of his all-weather friendship with China to lure investment into the region. He has already intimated that SADC will discuss with China to increase investment on infrastructural development.
President Mugabe is a principled leader who cannot be shoved by the west and the later are conscious of that fact. We hope that will translate into reduction of western interference in regional affairs. This does not mean that SADC is not in need of international cooperation. The cooperation must just be symbiotic. It's refreshing that countries like Britain that imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe have recognised SADC under the able leadership of President Mugabe.
The British ambassador to Zimbabwe, Deborah Bronnert said: "I am sure that our relationship with SADC will continue. We have always worked with SADC and nothing will change." Some thought the international community will not recognise SADC under the leadership of President Mugabe. This is the same reason why the MDC-T staged provoking demonstrations that was aimed at inviting backlash at President Mugabe and subsequently discredits his chairmanship.
SADC member states must support the veteran leader whose vision seeks to steer Southern Africa towards Sustainable socio-economic development. The region is set to drive great benefits from his visionary leadership.
Source - John Sigauke
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