VICE President Kembo Mohadi has said that as SADC Chairperson, President Mnangagwa will be guided by the decisions of the 44th SADC Summit regarding the necessary actions to be taken.
In his keynote address at the official opening of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) 12th Annual Conference of Speakers of African National and Regional Parliaments here yesterday, VP Mohadi, who is representing President Mnangagwa, said Zimbabwe’s responsibilities as SADC Chair include completing programmes and projects that immediate past Chairperson, President Joao Lourenco of Angola spearheaded.
The SADC Chairperson, he said, has the discretion to determine which regional matters or projects warrant his focus.
VP Mohadi added that the SADC Summit emerged with firm resolutions to consolidate cooperation and sustainable development in the region to significantly improve the lives and livelihoods of people.
“In pursuit of this onerous objective, the Summit took the important step of approving the transformation of the SADC Parliamentary Forum into the SADC Parliament, an organ that will provide the legislative framework for our region’s programmes and projects”.
The consummation of the SADC Parliament, he said, was important in complementing the work of similar regional bodies as well as in enhancing the oversight role of the PAP.
VP Mohadi said the focus of the 12th Annual Conference serves as a strong invitation to take action aimed at empowering all Africans through capacity building, grounded in access to pertinent knowledge.
“This conference is being convened under the African Union theme for the Year 2024 befittingly titled, ‘Educate an African fit for the 21st century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality and relevant learning in Africa’.
“We, therefore, need paradigm shifts in our education systems to expedite the holistic development of Africa, underpinned by research, innovation, science and technology.
“Our collective desire for the ‘Africa We Want’ can come to fruition with the sustained and focused involvement of this august House, the Pan African Parliament, which is a strategic organ of the African Union,” he said.
VP Mohadi said effective coordination of policies and programmes of Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs) must be given precedence during engagements.
“In this process, we need to engage in debates that empower our women and youths. Women and youths create a dynamic force for development. Relatedly, this Parliament has a particular responsibility to scale up advocacy for women and youth participation in development.
“We have to maximise returns on the exploitation of our abundant natural resources,” he said.
VP Mohadi outlined how Africa’s founding fathers endorsed the political relevance of the PAP as the vehicle to consistently promote the full participation of people in the development and integration of Africa.
The continent, he added, shares a diverse and rich cultural heritage, a dynamic demographic dividend, common knowledge systems and shared values that define the unity of Africans.
“We have an obligation to jealously guard our heritage by defending the values enshrined in the Charter of the African Union. This house, therefore, has the responsibility to take the lead in defending such values,” said VP Mohadi.
He said SADC is also guided by the same values and principles that Africans share at the continental level, adding that the five continental regions, geographically defined by the AU, can be strong and effective through engaging in rigorous regional consultations and co-operation towards the ‘Africa We Want’.
The AU’s blueprint, Agenda 2063, is the embodiment of all that defines Africans.
VP Mohadi challenged the PAP to debate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which he expects to transform the economic landscape of African countries.
“May you, the leaders of our parliaments, provide the guidance to eradicate poverty and initiate such policies as to spur the development of our countries in a comprehensive manner.
“Our people deserve that and much more,” he said.
VP Mohadi said Africa’s political and economic challenges require strategic interventions to uphold shared values.
He urged Africa to turn the realities of domestic and global events into economic and business opportunities and move beyond playing second fiddle in the spheres of industrialisation, trade and development.
