SADC INTERVENES TO EASE TENSIONS IN THREE NATIONS

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The Southern African Development Community’s Double Troika Summit in Angola came up with a number of recommendations as the regional body seeks to promote peace and security in three member countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho and Madagascar.

In the DRC, President Joseph Kabila was supposed to leave office in 2016, but since then elections have been postponed time and again, resulting in public anger over what some see as his refusal to relinquish power after his second full term ended in December 2016.

Elections were scheduled to take place in November 2016, but officials said the vote was postponed because of deadly violence in the Kasai region and logistical hurdles.

Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga, said leaders who met in Angola held talks with all parties involved in disputes in the DRC, Lesotho and Madagascar and came up with a number of proposals.

“To ensure that elections would be peaceful and transparent, the DRC government has asked Sadc to provide support. Sadc, in collaboration with United Nations peacekeepers, has pledged to join hands with the DRC army in maintaining peace and security in that country,” he said.

Tanzania, he added, was represented at the extra-ordinary Double Troika Summit in Angola by Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

According to Dr Mahiga, President Kabila has assured his Sadc counterparts that he would not contest the upcoming general election, pledging to hand over office to his successor in a peaceful manner with a view to ensuring that the country remained peaceful and stable.

In Lesotho, the Sadc organ uncovered a number of inconsistencies that threatened peace and security in that country.

The country has had three elections in a period of five years, and the latest held last year saw the opposition win the most parliamentary seats.

The snap election was called following a vote of no confidence passed against Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili and subsequent dissolution of parliament.

During the past five years, there has been no collaboration among the three pillars of government: the executive, the judiciary and parliament, thus threatening peace and security in Lesotho.

According to Dr Mahiga, the Sadc Double Troika Summit has also instructed the government to establish a new constitution making process and conduct reforms in the army and police, among other measures aimed at ensuring that the country remained peaceful and secure.

In Madagascar, the Sadc organ established that the country’s peace deteriorated after parliament recently passed a law that disallowed former presidents from contesting in general elections.

The decision sparked chaos and threatened peace on the island nation.

The Sadc body instructed the government in Madagascar to come up with measures that would restore stability.

Apart from Tanzania, Angola and Zambia, national leaders from South Africa, Namibia and Swaziland were also present at the Sadc Double Troika Summit in Angola.
By Peter Godwin.



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