Republic of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Vice-President Joice Mujuru at Harare International Airport prior to the president's departure for the SADC Summit in Lilongwe, Malawi on August 17, 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Closed session of 33rd Sadc Summit gets underway
Sunday, 18 August 2013 09:13
Caesar Zvayi in LILONGWE, Malawi
Zimbabwe Sunday Mail
President Mugabe has just arrived at the Bingu Wa Mutharika International Conference Centre for the closed session of the 33rd summit of SADC Heads of State and Government that has started with a breakfast meeting of Aids Watch Africa.
The summit opened at the Bingu wa Mutharika International Conference Centre here yesterday. But before it got underway, President Mugabe received a rapturous welcome with wild cheers and chants of ‘‘comrade!, comrade!’’ that reverberated across the auditorium when the master of ceremonies introduced him.
This prompted President Mugabe to rise again and pump his right fist into the air in acknowledgment, drawing wild applause from delegates and handshakes from his colleagues at the top table.
The welcome set the stage for the congratulatory messages that characterised the opening ceremony.
First to the podium was outgoing Sadc executive secretary Dr Tomaz Salomao, who gave a valedictory speech, thanking the region for the support it gave him during his eight-year tenure at the helm of the secretariat that he will today leave to Dr Stergomena L. Tax.
Dr Tax, who is the permanent secretary in Tanzania’s Ministry of East African Co-operation, beat Mr Peter Simon, the Minister of Investment, Natural Resources and Industry of the Seychelles, to become the first woman to head the secretariat.
Dr Salomao was followed by host President and incoming Sadc chairperson Dr Joyce Banda who also congratulated President Mugabe and Zanu-PF for a resounding electoral victory, saying Zimbabwe should always count on Malawi’s support.
‘‘We wish to congratulate President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and the people of Zimbabwe for conducting peaceful elections and free elections. We wish to assure the President and people of Zimbabwe of our continued support as a member of this (Sadc) family,’’ she said.
Next up was African Union Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who said the AU will always deploy election observers wherever elections are held in order to have first-hand information.
‘‘In this regard, we would like to congratulate the people of Zimbabwe for having a free and peaceful election,’’ Dr Zuma said.
The AU deployed long-term and short-term observer missions to the harmonised elections, with the latter led by former Nigerian president General Olusegun Obasanjo who endorsed the polls while Dr Zuma dismissed MDC-T rigging claims, saying no such issues were brought to their attention after meeting the party leadership in Harare.
Outgoing Sadc chairperson President Armando Emilio Guebuza was next on the podium and also congratulated President Mugabe and Zanu-PF for resoundingly winning the harmonised elections.
After the opening speeches, President Guebuza handed the chairpersonship badge to President Banda who, in her acceptance speech, pledged to bring Sadc closer to the people.
Today is the second and final day of the summit.
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