12 Jan 2022

Botswana is fully committed to assisting Mozambique deal with terrorist insurgency in the Cabo Delgado province, and the resolution taken by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to extend its Mission In Mozambique (SAMIM).

Vice President Mr Slumber Tsogwane said this in an interview at the end of the Extraordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Lilongwe, Malawi on Wednesday.

Mr Tsogwane, who led the Botswana delegation to the SADC Troika and Summit, said Botswana was totally party to the decisions taken to extend SAMIM operations and offer Mozambique regional humanitarian assistance.

He said the terrorist insurgency had initially not originated from within Mozambique, but had spread from outside its borders into its Cabo Delgado province.

This, he said was an indication that if SADC states did not unite to assist in rooting out the threat of terrorism and violent extremism as has been happening in Mozambique, the scourge could spill over to other SADC countries.

Mr Tsogwane said Botswana would continue to fully participate as part of SAMIM, but would consider deploying a different batch of service personnel to avoid fatigue.

Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation Dr Lemogang Kwape told BOPA the Botswana was particularly pleased with the SAMIM extension, since the initial decision to convene regional troops had been taken during President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s chairmanship of the SADC Organ on Defence Politics and Security.

He said Botswana had been praised during the closed-door sessions of the SADC Troika, Summit and meeting of the Council of Ministers, for the diligent discharge of duties by the country’s troops and administrative personel of SAMIM.

Dr Kwape said Botswana being Africa’s oldest continuous democracy had always been committed to extending her peace dividend to the Southern African region, which would assist all SADC states to collectively benefit by focusing on regional integration and economic development.  Ends