07 Sep 2020

Minister for International Affairs and Cooperation, Dr Lemogang Kwape has informed Parliament  that Botswana has been elected as the Chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security.

In his statement in Parliament on September 4, Dr Kwape said that Botswana assumed chairmanship during the 40^th Ordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government, which was held virtually on August 17.

“This means that Botswana, as the Chair of the Organ, will spearhead initiatives and programmes aimed at addressing challenges that could potentially threaten peace and security in the region, for the next one year,” he said.  

Dr Kwape said the organ was an important institution of SADC, responsible for the promotion of peace, security and stability in the region. 

Furthermore, he emphasised that peace and security were essential in creating an enabling environment for interstate cooperation, which provided a platform for member states to develop common policies and strategies aimed at fostering economic and social development within the SADC region and beyond.  

As chair of the organ, he said, Botswana was expected to coordinate, host and chair all the statutory and other meetings of the organ, including its committees and sub-committees. 

He also stated that the organ had three main committees, namely: the Ministerial Committee of the Organ (MCO), which was the main coordinating committee, under the chairmanship of the Minister for International Affairs and Cooperation. 

The other committee was the Interstate Politics and Diplomacy, which was also chaired by the foreign affairs minister and dealt with issues of governance, including democratisation, the conduct of elections in the countries in the region, cooperation among governments and disaster management.

He stated that the Interstate Defence and Security Committee, dealt with issues of instability, intra and interstate conflicts, police cooperation, prevention of cross-border crimes, early warning, immigration, refugees, correctional services, national parks and wildlife, and would be chaired by Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Kagiso  Mmusi.

Minister Kwape also noted that the organ was coordinated through a Troika system, comprising the current chair of the organ being Botswana, the outgoing chair being Zimbabwe and the incoming chair being South Africa. 

 

“This means that the three countries will be working closely together in dealing with issues before the Organ,” he said. BOPA