President to participate in Double Troika summit

Lincoln Towindo in MAPUTO, Mozambique
An Extraordinary Double Troika SADC Summit will be held today in Maputo, Mozambique to discuss the insecurity in the Cabo Delgado province of that country.

The summit brings together the SADC Troika and the Troika of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.

The SADC Troika is presently chaired by Mozambique, with Malawi as incoming chair and Tanzania as outgoing chair.

The troika of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation has Botswana as current chair, South Africa as incoming chair and Zimbabwe as outgoing chair, which is why President Mnangagwa is attending the summit with his team.

The Double Troika summit will be preceded by meetings of ministers and senior officials.

The meeting, which was initially scheduled for last month, was postponed owing to the absence of two Heads of State.

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi was in quarantine, following contact with a person who later tested positive for the Covid-19, while South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was attending to urgent domestic matters.

There has been heightened concern over growing terrorist activities in Mozambique especially following the insurgent attacks on Palma, a coastal town in Cabo Delgado province, on March 24.

Today’s meeting is expected to receive a report of the technical assessment team that was deployed in Mozambique following the decisions of the SADC Extraordinary Double Troika Summit held on April 8.

During its meeting, the SADC Double Troika Summit of Heads of State and Government noted with concern, the acts of terrorism perpetrated against innocent civilians, women and children in some districts of Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique and reaffirmed SADC’s continued commitment to contribute towards bringing lasting peace and security.

The Summit further condemned the terrorist attacks in strongest terms, and affirmed that such attacks cannot be allowed to continue without a proportionate regional response.

This followed the submission of a report by service chiefs and security services on their intended response aimed at quelling the terrorism.