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Lloyd Gumbo Senior Reporter
“I didn’t fight the liberation war to end up a poor man” are words attributed to national hero, Retired General Solomon Mujuru. Surely, Africans in general and those from Sadc in particular did not lose their limbs in many liberation wars fought across the region to remain poor despite having their own governments in power.
Sadc countries cannot brag about being independent as long as the majority of the population swims in poverty, despite waging protracted wars to reclaim their God-given resources.
Leaders must do something urgently about poverty stalking the region if they are to achieve socio-economic development.
As such, the forthcoming 34th Sadc Summit of the Heads of State and Government to be held in Victoria Falls in a fortnight, must prioritise poverty eradication or at least reduction, if millions are to enjoy their independence.
While some Sadc countries have been bragging about having economic growth, this has rarely impacted positively on the lives of the majority, especially the rural poor who have consistently voted liberation movements back into power.
On attainment of respective independence, several revolutionary black governments prioritised social development in line with the objectives of the liberation struggle. With time, economic growth became the focus, resulting in the majority of people being condemned to abject poverty.
Poverty is arguably one of the major threats to Sadc countries than HIV and Aids as it causes havoc throughout the region. There is no justification for such irony of having so much resources yet people are still in poverty, considering that it is more than three decades since the majority of Sadc countries have been independent.
It is time that leaders take practical steps to alleviate the sad situation if they are to maintain relevance.
Food, water, health and shelter are some of the basic needs that Sadc governments have struggled to address at a time HIV and Aids is also causing mayhem amongst the poor.
Several interventions have been adopted at regional level, yet implementation has been erratic and individualistic, resulting in them failing to completely eradicate poverty.
According to the Sadc Council of Non-Governmental Organisations, poverty eradication is one of the greatest challenges facing the region despite individual interventions.
“However, the need for more co-ordinated interventions, monitoring and alignment of programmes has become more urgent than before,” said the organisation.
“The challenge for the region is to create an environment that is conductive for poverty eradication and attainment of high and sustained rates of economic growth, while ensuring the benefits of growth accrue to all in the region.”
It is unfortunate that some Sadc interventions in poverty alleviation are not felt at the grassroots level due to a myriad of reasons, among them lack of funding and inadequate consultations.
It is important for the 34th Sadc Summit to prioritise sharing experiences to collectively fight the scourge.
Zimbabwe has come up with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation, an economic blueprint with food security and nutrition and social services and poverty eradication being at the core of its social development agenda.
Botswana also has a working livestock production intervention that other Sadc countries could emulate if they are to tackle poverty at village level.
Countries in the region must also create a conducive environment for development agencies, with specific programmes.
Corruption and skewed ownership of resources is one of the reasons poverty has maintained its grip on Sadc countries even after independence as the elite continue to own the means of production.
It is, therefore, important that the regional bloc commits to fight poverty and put a check on those that have abused their positions to amass wealth when millions cannot guarantee the next meal.
Deals with multinational corporations have also been skewed in favour of investors at the expense of locals as those behind negotiations have mortgaged the resources for kickbacks.
Online Reporter