Luanda — Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo was elected Wednesday as Acting President of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) during the 42nd summit of the SADC Heads of State held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to the communiqué of the summit that reached ANGOP, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo will lead SADC for a year to be further replaced by the President of Angola as part of the rotational presidency of the community.
The event was attended by Angola that was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, the Head of State of Namibia, Hage G. Geingob, who was elected chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
During the summit, the Heads of State and Government of the community received the report of the outgoing Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, having congratulated him for his exemplary leadership and continued efforts in finding solutions to address threats to peace and security along the year, despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The participants also received the briefing report from the SADC facilitator for the Kingdom of Lesotho, President Cyril Ramaphosa, on the implementation of the decisions regarding the Kingdom of Lesotho and noted the progress made.
The Lesotho government was urged to accelerate the completion of ongoing reforms, proceed with the peace process, application of transitional justice and reconciliation to promote national unity and coexistence.
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Those present hailed the SADC facilitator and facilitation team for their leadership and role in supporting the government and People of the Kingdom of Lesotho, the national multisectoral dialogue process and the adoption of the comprehensive reform proposals.
The summit approved the establishment of an Oversight Committee, consisting of the Panel of Elders (PoA) and the SADC Mediation Reference Group (MRG) to ensure continuity and oversight the reforms implementation in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Regarding the security situation in Cabo Delgado Province, northern Mozambique, the summit approved the extension of the mandate of the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) and the relevant related processes.
The meeting commended the countries assisting the SADC Mission in Mozambique "SAMIN" for their solidarity and sacrifice in supporting the Mission and expressed condolences to the governments and families of the nine SAMIM personnel who lost their lives in action.
The summit was attended by Heads of State and Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, DRCongo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kingdom of Lesotho, Angola, Union of the Comoros and Madagascar.
