17 Aug 2015

President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama has condemned criminal acts against humanity taking place in East and West Africa.

“We seriously condemn these criminal acts against humanity and pray for the end of these attacks,” said President Khama in his acceptance speech as the new Southern African Development Community (SADC) chairperson at the 35^th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government meeting in Gaborone on Monday  August 17. 

President Khama’s condemnation comes against the backdrop of rising incidences of terrorism and brutal attacks in East and West Africa which he said perturbed him together with those in the Magrheb region which has resulted in the loss of numerous innocent lives.

Consequently, he underscored the importance of SADC contributing towards Africa’s standby force to bring peace and stability on the continent because “there would be no stability in southern Africa without continental stability.”

On the contrary, he was happy that he was taking over the leadership of a region that was able to resolve its political problems amicably.

He said in the area of peace security and democracy, the SADC region remained one of the most peaceful and stable on the continent owing to mechanisms put in place in the context of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.

President Khama paid glowing tribute to the leadership of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa in steering the SADC troika well, saying under his watch the organ worked tirelessly to provide rapid response to emerging challenges on peace and security.

Under the theme: Accelerating industrialisation of SADC economies through transformation of natural endowment and improved human capital, President Khama said it was imperative for the region to expedite implementation of its industrialisation strategy and road map.

He was hopeful that the outcome of the summit would be decisions that would guide and direct officials towards actualising the industrialisation strategy and road map.

On HIV/AIDS, President Khama said the war on reducing infections was continuing hence there was need to monitor the situation and coordinate necessary regional interventions with member states until the region was comfortable that further HIV infections were a thing of the past.

On food security, Lt Gen. Khama said there was no doubt that SADC’s ability to provide adequate food was a matter of pride and dignity.

“We need to maintain self-sufficiency, bearing in mind that one component of our industrialisation programme must be agro-processing which requires a consistent supply of agricultural products,” he said.

He further underscored the importance of the region remaining steadfast in its efforts to implement key activities articulated by the Maseru Declaration on HIV/AIDS as well as the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security. ENDS