Africa-Press – Botswana. A meeting is set to take place in July this year between Botswana, Zimbabwe, and two neighbouring countries with the purpose of resolving cross-border livestock rustling. President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi made this announcement during the official opening of the Heads of State Summit during the 4th Botswana/Zimbabwe Bi-National Commission (BNC) in Maun on Friday.
The meeting will primarily focus on establishing an agreement framework to address the issue of livestock rustling that affects communities residing along the borders and concerns both governments.
President Masisi urged all officials to move with speed and ensure the implementation of the framework on cooperation, saying it had a direct correlation on the well-being of citizens.
Regarding the commission, President Masisi said it was created to widen and deepen the scope of bilateral, regional and multilateral relations between countries as well as monitoring progress on previous commitments and exploring new areas of collaboration.
President Masisi said his meeting with with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, pledged to task their foreign affairs ministers with developing a comprehensive programme of cooperation covering common interests such as movement of people, agriculture, innovation, education, maritime economy, wildlife, tourism, land management, ecology, water and minerals.
This, he said aimed to achieve the SADC and African Union agenda of integration.
Dr Masisi also cautioned against the signing and shelving of instruments of cooperation. “This is a practice that we are going to nip in the bud,” he said, adding that they wanted to facilitate the quick implementation of commitments to reap maximum benefits.
He noted that cooperation between Botswana and Zimbabwe dated back to their first formal bilateral relations in 1983 and that it was premised on the two countries desire to uplift the livelihoods of their citizens through economic growth, job creation and poverty eradication.
President Masisi also said the unilateral sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe remained a concern to Botswana and other SADC countries and that they wanted their unconditional removal. “We will continue to advocate for the unconditional lifting of economic sanctions, which affects not only Zimbabwe but have also had a negative impact on development efforts in our sub continent,” he said.
For his part, President Mnangagwa hailed President Masisi for the commitment he had displayed to strengthen relations between the two countries.
He, however, said more work needed to be done to accelerate the implementation of high income programmes and projects within the two countries. He added that they should prioritise deepening cooperation in agriculture so that they could feed themselves and develop value chains in the sector in their respective countries.
“We must continue to believe in ourselves and develop viable value chains across all agricultural sub sectors,” he said.
He also said the unrestricted movement of citizens, goods and services was essential to stronger economic cooperation, and that the establishment of a one stop border post would expedite trade between the two countries. He added that the development of cross-border infrastructure projects to increase economic efficiency and competitiveness must be pursued with vigour.
He said the proposed railway line between Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique would increase connectivity in the region, and that he looked forward to strong synergies in the energy sector. The ministers forum of the Bi-national commission also identified cross-border livestock rustling between the two countries as a major problem which required immediate action.
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