by Bayano Valy – SANF 04 no 113
Southern African Development Community (SADC) defence experts have called for greater links between the regional institution’s political and economic planning bodies to boost the operationalisation of the Strategic Indicative Plan of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation (SIPO).
Described by SADC Executive Secretary Prega Ramsamy as a “compass that will guide our quest for peace and security in our region,” SIPO is the region’s guideline for the implementation of the Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
Meeting for a two-day (13-14 December) conference on defence and security cooperation in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, heads of defence and security agencies and foreign affairs ministries, chiefs of operations for defence, police and security, among others, said that for SIPO to work, there has to be direct link with the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), the region’s blueprint for development.
This means that in planning for development policy planners have also to factor in defence and security as this leads to peace, and by extension development.
This can take place if security and development sectors are linked organically. “There is a need for an organic link between the security sector with that of development,” João Ndlovu, head of political, defence and security affairs unit in the SADC Secretariat told SANF.
In other words, SIPO should not be independent of RISDP “because the function of defence and security in the development process is to guarantee that the development plans be realised in a climate of peace and security.”
Indeed, the region has tabled plans for the development of new projects, namely the Western Corridor Power Project (WESTCOR) that will carry power from a hydroelectric scheme at the Inga falls in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and Mepanda Uncua Power Project for the downstream development of Cahora Bassa dam in Mozambique, among others, which can only accrue benefits for the peoples of the region if there is political stability.
Apart from the DRC where there is still a pocket of instability in the eastern region of the country, southern Africa lives in relative peace and security. This perception has to continue if SADC is to attract investment and it is “necessary that the investments are not threatened.”
SADC cannot afford to make “strategic miscalculations,” said Ndlovu, adding that the region needs a well-coordinated defence and security cooperation that will guarantee the protection of its peoples and investments.
One scenario he painted to illustrate his point is that of water: he said that if, for example, a country upstream decided to divert the course of a river, this would have social, economic and political consequences downstream.
Probably the downstream country would be forced to take drastic steps that, if badly managed, would end up in conflict. Here the role of the defence and security sector in the Early Warning System is very crucial because it “can keep the state informed on the possibility of excess of water of which consequence technical decisions can be taken which might have political repercussions.”
Meteorologists can only give technical advice, but the politics of the measure have to be handled by the defence and security sector, and hence the insistence on close collaboration between all the areas and the organic link of SIPO and RISDP within the SADC structures.
Another drawback for the implementation of SIPO is understaffing. Although the SADC summit in Mauritius made decisions to staff its Secretariat, there has not been much progress as getting appropriate budget for the Organ seems to be very difficult.
Participants called for the organigram of the Organ to be fitted into mainstream SADC.
For instance, there is a commission for defence and security affairs within the Secretariat which until recently had two staff members. However, one has since left and there is some uncertainty about the remaining one who is said to be overwhelmed with work.
“The understanding is not the same,” said Ndlovu. “That’s why it’s necessary to have a link between the economic and political side, because what happens is that when the political side takes decisions because it has seen the volume of work, it has seen the importance of work, the understanding is not equal on the economic side.”
Thus there is a great reluctance for planners to disburse funds that were budgeted for the defence and security sector because they will give preference to developmental issues, and this has a bearing on recruitment of more staff.
Consequently, the conference recommended that member countries explain to the economists that “these are the great tasks that we have to undertake at the defence and security level.”
The conference hailed the success achieved so far. International partners have agreed to once again fund the Regional Peace-Keeping Training Centre (RPTC) based in Zimbabwe.
The RPTC was closed in 2002 because there was no clarity as to who owned it, but the Organ undertook a public relations drive that won over sceptics that Zimbabwe is the host nation of a regional institution.
“There are very encouraging promises for us to restart activities in the Centre,” said Ndlovu. It is hoped that the RPTC will play a fundamental role within the context of the SADC Brigade, a regional standby force that is to be created as a recommendation of the African Union.
Taking a cue from remarks on the opening day from Mozambican Deputy Defence Minister, Henrique Banze, the conference decided that it is necessary to seek strategies to involve the civil society in conflict management.
Banze had called for the inclusive participation of both state and non-state actors in seeking solutions for peace and security in the region. (SARDC)
