by Munetsi Madakufamba – SANF 04 no 77
This article is part of our special daily coverage of SADC regional issues at the SADC Summit currently taking place in Grand Baie, Mauritius
GRAND BAIE, 16 August – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit opened in Mauritius on 16 August with a call for solidarity and unity among its 13 member states.
Leading the call was Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, who is the outgoing SADC chairperson. He said southern Africa cannot avoid the sensitive question of land and agrarian reform if it is to overcome the devastating cycles of food insecurity, and further ensure that “agriculture plays its important role for economic growth, poverty reduction and broad-based development”.
“Let SADC speak with one voice, and let the outside world understand, that to us Africans land is much more than a factor of production; we are spiritually anchored in the lands of our ancestors.
“We are truly ‘sons and daughters of the soil’. To dispossess us of land is not only to consign us to perpetual economic deprivation, it is also an affront to our spirit, to our sociological sense of being, to our very humanity and our inalienable right to dignity as a people.”
Speaking on the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, which are expected to be adopted by the end of the summit on 17 August, President Mkapa castigated western countries for imposing their own brands of democracy on Africa.
“We are tired of being lectured on democracy by the very countries, which under colonialism, either directly denied us the rights of free citizens, or were indifferent to our suffering and yearning to break free and be democratic,” Mkapa said.
The Tanzanian president said, “We want to send out a clear message that we fought for freedom and democracy.” He added that, “Freedom and democracy were not given to us on a platter.”
He said real democracy is one that is grown from within. He added that democracy is an evolution, not a revolution and “no one size fits all.”
Rejecting wholesale copying of what he termed “coca-cola democracy”, Mkapa said, “Imported and imposed systems of governance that pay no heed to the actual social, economic and cultural circumstances pertaining in new democracies, will not take root.”
He said the principles and guidelines should be “assessed on our terms, and our yardsticks, not on those of others.
“Above all, multi-party democracy and its attendant elections must never be a cover for the destabilisation of our countries,” Mkapa said.
In his report on the political situation in the region, Lesotho Prime Minister Pakhalita Mosisili and outgoing chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation said, “Democracy is not only well, but is thriving in the region.” He pointed to the culture of regular elections in southern Africa, which he said has become a norm.
SADC has been sending observer missions to recent elections in the region and beyond. The most recent was in South Africa and Malawi in April and May respectively. Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique are due to hold elections in October, November and December respectively.
A highlight of the opening ceremony was the handover of the rotating SADC chair. Tanzanian President Mkapa handed over the chair of SADC to Paul Berenger, the Prime Minister of Mauritius. Festus Mogae of Botswana was elected deputy chairperson and will automatically become the next host of the SADC Summit in 2005.
South African President Thabo Mbeki becomes the new chairperson of the SADC Organ while Namibian President Sam Nujoma will be his deputy. The organ functions as a Troika and Lesotho, as the immediate past chair, completes the team.
Meanwhile, SADC has launched its long term political development plan, which will complement the economic blueprint that was also launched earlier this year.
The SADC Indicative Plan for the Organ (SIPO) provides general guidelines for the operationalisation of the SADC Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, which came into effect in March this year.
Launching the plan at the start of the SADC Summit in Mauritius, Mosisili said SIPO and the economic blueprint, the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) are distinct but complementary.
SIPO is divided into four major sectors: politics, defence, state security and public security. It outlines specific activities that need to be implemented in order to realise the objectives of the SADC Organ. (SARDC)
