SANF 21 no 34 – by Clarkson Mambo
“SADC’s Vision for 2050 is for the community to remain a peaceful and stable region, enabling the further prioritisation, pursuit, and achievement of its objectives of socio-economic development, poverty eradication, and regional integration.”
In this forward-looking statement, the Southern African Development Community identifies peace and stability as the foundation for the achievement of all its other goals, whose ultimate aim is to see SADC citizens live in a safe and prosperous environment.
And for this reason, the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030 and SADC Vision 2050, approved in August 2020 both place peace and security as a strategic priority.
The region has largely remained peaceful, save for a few pockets of instability since the then Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) was transformed into SADC in 1992.
But aware that there will not always be peace, SADC leaders in 1996 created the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security. It would however take five years until the protocol establishing the Organ was put into place.
The role of the Organ, which is chaired by different leaders on a rotational basis every year, is to promote peace and security across Southern Africa, protecting the region’s people from instability due to the breakdown of law and order among other factors and to develop a common foreign policy, as well as ensuring cooperation on matters related to security and defence.
The Organ has been instrumental in the manner in which SADC has tackled threats to regional peace and continues to be the leading light in ensuring citizens continue to enjoy their rights in a secure environment.
A new threat, terrorism and violent extremism, previously not experienced in the region, has however emerged, and most recently reared its head in Mozambique where the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates 732,000 people had been displaced in the past four years and thousands killed.
But having learnt about the serious threats posed by terrorism and violent extremism, its potential to spill over from experiences in other regions of the world, SADC developed and approved the SADC Regional Counter Terrorism Strategy in 2015.
Terrorism is known for trampling on all aspects of human rights as defined by international conventions and declarations.
A United Nations panel in 2005, described terrorism as “any act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act.”
At its 41st SADC Summit held in Lilongwe, Malawi on 17 -18 August 2021, the regional organisation moved a step towards attaining one of the goals of SADC Vision 2050, of establishing a Regional Counter Terrorism Centre (RCTC).
“Summit commended the United Republic of Tanzania for offering to host the Regional Counter Terrorism Centre, which will offer dedicated and strategic advisory services to the Region on terrorism threats,” said outgoing SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, delivering the final Summit communique.
Tanzania is a key SADC Member State and is credited for hosting the meeting in July 1979, that eventually led to the birth of the SADCC, the predecessor of SADC, in 1980.
The Regional Counter Terrorism Centre will therefore play a big part in ensuring the region’s objectives of establishing effective conflict prevention, management, and resolution systems, as well as providing early warning systems that are capable of tracking and monitoring political, security, and socio-economic threats.
Member States will also be capacitated to observe and monitor indicators of insecurity, including structural factors, triggers and accelerators of conflict, disasters, and pandemics.
“Once the Centre is operational, the Region will enhance efforts and the coordination of measures to address terrorism. The Centre is expected to enable synergies with National Early Warning Centres and the Regional Early Warning Centre,” Dr Tax has previously said.
Another imperative will also be tackling terrorist financing to restrict access to funding and financial services.
As part of SADC Vision 2050, regional leaders have said the RCTC will also assist in the development and adoption of policies to tackle new and “non-traditional” security threats such as climate-induced migration, environmental hazards, and health pandemics.
The overall aim for the Centre will thus be ensuring SADC has an “enhanced collective defence and security system that is capable of safeguarding the territorial integrity of the region.”
But while the Regional Counter Terrorism Centre is taking shape, the SADC has affirmed that the regional organisation has the responsibility to assist any Member State facing a terrorist threat.
The SADC Mutual Defence Pact, which entered into force in 2008 provides for collective self-defence and collective action. Article 6 of the Pact states that “an armed attack against a state party shall be considered a threat to regional peace and security and such an attack shall be met with immediate action.”
The region recently put this into practice with the deployment of the SADC Standby Force to the Republic of Mozambique to combat terrorism and violent extremism in Cabo Delgado Province in July 2021.
The 41st SADC Summit received updates on the security situation Mozambique “and commended SADC Member States for pledging personnel and providing financial support towards the deployment of SADC Standby Force to Mozambique,” according to the communique.
The Summit also endorsed an Action Plan for the implementation of Security Threats Report, urging Member States to implement interventions contained in the Plan as part of measures to mitigate some of the current challenges to peace and security.
A host of other instruments such as SADC Protocol on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition and other Related Materials, and Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Transnational Organised Crime have also been put in place to assist in dealing with potential threats.
High level collaboration in intelligence and security through institutions such as the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO) and Interpol, whose roles include the prevention and fighting of cross-border crime and trafficking of weapons will also come in handy for collaboration with the Regional Counter Terrorism Centre.
Partnerships with institutions such as the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism, which has vast experience with dealing with such threats will also assist the Centre. sardc.net
