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Dar es Salaam. — The Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN) has called upon peace-loving citizens in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) to stand in solidarity with the people of Mozambique as the country deals with multiple and overlapping crises, including military conflicts and religious extremism.
SAPSN also instructed citizens in the region to stand in solidarity with citizens in the United Republic of Tanzania as the country holds its General Election on October 28 this year.
The network made the calls during the Sadc Peoples’ Summit, an annual regional gathering of articulated social movements and progressive groups in the Southern African region.The summit held its meetings through virtual platforms from August 18 to August 21, this year under the theme “SADC @40: Towards a People Centred-Post Covid Recovery Plan”.
The summit came up with several declarations — including the call for increased support in the country’s struggle in the war against extremisms that has wreaked havoc in the northern part where it borders with Tanzania.
The country is also fighting other vices, including drug trafficking, serious human rights violations and democratic reversals, as well as the unaccountable plunder of natural resources by vested local and foreign interests.
“We understand that the growing conflict in Northern Mozambique is ultimately the result of extra-activism and theft of natural resources at the cost of the local small-scale food producers, including farmers, fisher folks, livestock holders, herders, and host communities,” reads the SAPSN declaration in part.
The declaration, which was submitted to the Sadc heads of state, demands that citizens in the Sadc region also stand in solidarity with Tanzanians who elect the president, parliamentarians and councillors next October. — The Citizen.
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