SADC Summit urged to drive regional cooperation

Herald Reporter

THE 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government that gets underway in Mt Hampden today, should result in increased regional cooperation, investment and trade opportunities, opposition leader Mr Timothy Mncube has said.

Mr Mncube, president of the Zimbabwe African National Congress (ZANC), has previously praised President Mnangagwa’s leadership style, particularly his investment in infrastructure.

President Mnangagwa takes over as SADC Chairman from today, at the Heads of State and Government Summit.

Yesterday, Mr Ncube said ZANC expects SADC leaders to extensively discuss a number of issues including regional unity and cooperation among member States.

“As ZANC, our expectations for the SADC Summit in Zimbabwe are; meaningful dialogue and solutions to address pressing regional challenges such as economic development, peace, and security, increased investment and trade opportunities for Zimbabwe and the region and progress on regional integration initiatives, including infrastructure development and economic corridors,” he said.

“We also expect leaders to talk about enhancing collaboration on health, education and social welfare initiatives. A strong, unified stance on global issues affecting the region is also a key expectation from the summit for us.”

Mr Mncube also said they expect Zimbabwe to take advantage of the summit to showcase its potential and attract more investment while tangible outcomes and action plans for implementing summit resolutions should also be in place.

“We look forward to a productive and successful summit that benefits the people of Zimbabwe and the SADC region,” said Mr Mncube.

In the last few weeks, he has been condemning threats of demonstrations and violence by some opposition elements, saying they were counterproductive at a time when Zimbabwe is experiencing unparalleled developments under President Mnangagwa’s leadership.

He called on other opposition parties to allow the Second Republic to implement all its plans so that ZANU PF could be judged on the basis of its delivery when the next election comes.