Africa-Press – Botswana. President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has hailed Botswana’s first President, Sir Seretse Khama for his role in the formation of the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) now Southern African Development Community (SADC) and initiating the journey towards regional integration.
This followed Sir Seretse’s legacy being celebrated by SADC during the 43rd Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government in Luanda, Angola on August 17.
Interviewed after the award was presented, President Masisi said the SADC award in honour of Sir Seretse Khama was a proud historical moment for Botswana as the country has a rich and lasting history with regard to the formation of the organisation.
“Our association with the history of SADC dates back to its founding through the linkage with our founding President, Sir Seretse Khama, therefore his honouring gives us a lot of joy as a nation and we should all be proud to have witnessed this moment where the former President’s legacy was recognised and honoured by the entire region,” he said.
He said the country had forever been proud of Sir Seretse, hence the emphasis on the need for his legacy to be honoured through the Sir Seretse Khama Day celebrations.
President Masisi said it was pleasing that a family member, former president Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama, came to receive the award as it was the case with other past leaders who were previously honoured.
Other founding Presidents who were honoured last year were Dr Agostinho Neto from Angola, Dr Samora Machel from Mozambique, Dr Julius Nyerere from Tanzania, Dr Kenneth Kaunda from Zambia and Dr Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe.
Reflecting on the outcome of the summit, President Masisi hailed it as a success. He said the summit endorsed the theme titled; Human and Finance Capital: Key Drivers for Sustainable Industrialisation in the SADC Region,” highlighting that the theme intended to address two of the most critical enablers in supporting regional industrialisation in the context of climate change and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
He noted that it surfaced during deliberations that it was important to move member states to higher levels of operations.
“The summit presented a platform for heads of states to strategise on pooling the resources and prioritise projects that would yield regional development with one of the priority areas being infrastructure required to facilitate the regional integration process to enable intra-regional trade,” he said.
President Masisi further said Botswana was up-to-date with her SADC membership contributions.
The membership contributions, he said, were formulised and agreed upon based on a fair assessment in relation to each country’s level of economic development. He shared that defaulting on payment of dues could attract penalties such as sanctions.
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