By Ireen Kayira, Mana
The 40th Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and preceding meetings will be held virtually from August 10 to August 17.
In a statement that was released on August 5 by the SADC secretariat in Botswana the development has come due to the corona virus pandemic which has hit the world.
“In view of the challenges posed by the COVID 19 Pandemic, the Summit and proceeding meetings will be conducted virtually with a reduced agenda, focusing on the hand-over of the SADC Chairperson-ship, and critical Institutional matters,” reads the statement.
The statement further said the Republic of Mozambique will host the virtual meetings as the Incoming Chair of the 16 Member regional economic bloc.
“The SADC Summit is responsible for the overall policy direction and control of functions of the community, ultimately making it the policy-making institution of SADC,” reads the statement.
The SADC Summit is made up of all SADC Heads of State or Government and is managed on a Troika system that comprises the current SADC Chairperson, the incoming Chairperson and the immediate previous Chairperson.
The Ordinary SADC Summit usually meets once a year around August or September in a Member State of the incoming SADC Chairperson.
The Republic of Mozambique last hosted the SADC Summit in 2012, under the Chairpersonship of former President, Armando Emílio Guebuza.
