Malawi President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has been elected to lead the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) starting from August, 2021.
This was revealed during the 40th SADC Ordinary Summit held online yesterday under the theme ” 40 Years Building Peace and Security, and Promoting Development and Resilience in the Face of Global Challenges.”
Dr Chakwera will take over the position from Filipe Nyusi, the president of Mozambique.
In his address , Chakwera asked the incoming SADC Chairperson President Filipe Nyusi to actualize the economic integration in the region.
“I believe that one of the ways we can promote development and resilience is to turn his dream of regional economic integration into reality. As you all know, this is a subject on which he often spoke with great passion and conviction without sparing our feelings. As a case in point, he once said: “The idea of African brotherhood is often just a cover-up for laziness. In terms of regional economic integration, sentimentality is not enough. We really have to be frank
and honest,”
“All of us as Sub-Saharan African nations feel this brotherhood that binds us very deeply, for it is a brotherhood that predates our colonial borders and transcends our individual statehood. What remains is for us to resolve once and for all to give this brotherhood its
fullest expression in the development,” he said.
The president said Malawi is ready work hand in hand with other SADC countries to achieve economic development in the region.
“I believe that the combination of strengths and shared values between us in this present moment
represents a unique opportunity to achieve this within the next few years, an opportunity worth seizing. I also believe that it is a divine opportunity, for it is by the Providence of God that we are bound to one another by history, culture, and a shared journey of liberation,”
“I can promise that you will find in Malawi and my Government an eager partner ready to give of herself in service to this noble idea, whose time I believe has come,” Chakwera says.
This was the first time for Dr Chakwera to attend the SADC summit since winning the 23rd June, 2020 fresh presidential elections.
