All eyes on Geingob
President Hage Geingob is taking over as SADC chair from his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa today.
All eyes are on President Hage Geingob today as he takes over the SADC chairmanship from South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, with the region expecting him to set the tone in his opening address in terms of its aspirations and challenges.
Among the issues Geingob is expected to address as incoming chair at the 38th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government at the Safari Court Hotel are food security, the HIV/Aids pandemic and political stability in the region. There is also an expectation that Ramaphosa will talk about land in his outgoing address as SADC chair today, given the land expropriation without compensation debate raging in South Africa. Namibia is also confronted with burning questions around skewed land ownership and is hosting a much-anticipated land conference in October. Local political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah believes it would be political suicide for both leaders if they failed to touch on land during their speeches. “I could see that our President Hage Geingob's key focus will probably be that we should do it (land redistribution) in a more responsible manner; in a way that it will not create chaos. I could also see him urging those that have land to meet government halfway to make sure it addresses the issue, otherwise it will get out of hand,” he said. However, Charles Mubita, a former SADC spokesperson, does not see why land must feature if it is an issue only affecting Namibia and South Africa. “It will not be appropriate to discuss land at the SADC summit because it is currently only an issue facing the South African and Namibian nations. SADC is a regional body and is not concerned with bilateral, but rather multilateral issues, such as regional integration,” Mubita argued. He said land reform could only be addressed by a regional body such as SADC after Namibia's second national land conference.
“The land issue has not even been spoken about on a national platform. It is not yet before parliament and is to be addressed at the upcoming land conference,” he said.
Other issues commentators expect the two leaders to address include political stability in the region, including the current political stalemate in Zimbabwe. Late last month, Zimbabwe held its first democratic elections following the ousting of long-serving ruler Robert Mugabe in November last year. Although the election was hailed the most peaceful and transparent election since the dawn of the Mugabe era in 1980, its outcome is now in the hands of that country's constitutional court after opposition leader Nelson Chamisa called for the nullification of the results. Geingob, as incoming SADC chair, is therefore expected to address the issue in a bold and transparent manner, Kamwanyah believes.
According to Kamwanyah this is the perfect opportunity for Ramaphosa to brief Geingob on what has been done behind closed doors and what needs to be done to help Zimbabwe move forward in a more peaceful way.
“It will be a mistake for the incoming and outgoing chairs not to address the issues or at least talk about how it is necessary that peace is maintained in Zimbabwe. “They should also talk about how the Zimbabwe government should not squash opposition and arrest and torture people like what we saw happen to those who protested during the elections.”
Mubita added that the SADC Parliamentary Forum needs to be addressed, especially the intention to turn it into a regional parliament, as well as issues of continental integration arising from tripartite discussions.
Among the issues Geingob is expected to address as incoming chair at the 38th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government at the Safari Court Hotel are food security, the HIV/Aids pandemic and political stability in the region. There is also an expectation that Ramaphosa will talk about land in his outgoing address as SADC chair today, given the land expropriation without compensation debate raging in South Africa. Namibia is also confronted with burning questions around skewed land ownership and is hosting a much-anticipated land conference in October. Local political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah believes it would be political suicide for both leaders if they failed to touch on land during their speeches. “I could see that our President Hage Geingob's key focus will probably be that we should do it (land redistribution) in a more responsible manner; in a way that it will not create chaos. I could also see him urging those that have land to meet government halfway to make sure it addresses the issue, otherwise it will get out of hand,” he said. However, Charles Mubita, a former SADC spokesperson, does not see why land must feature if it is an issue only affecting Namibia and South Africa. “It will not be appropriate to discuss land at the SADC summit because it is currently only an issue facing the South African and Namibian nations. SADC is a regional body and is not concerned with bilateral, but rather multilateral issues, such as regional integration,” Mubita argued. He said land reform could only be addressed by a regional body such as SADC after Namibia's second national land conference.
“The land issue has not even been spoken about on a national platform. It is not yet before parliament and is to be addressed at the upcoming land conference,” he said.
Other issues commentators expect the two leaders to address include political stability in the region, including the current political stalemate in Zimbabwe. Late last month, Zimbabwe held its first democratic elections following the ousting of long-serving ruler Robert Mugabe in November last year. Although the election was hailed the most peaceful and transparent election since the dawn of the Mugabe era in 1980, its outcome is now in the hands of that country's constitutional court after opposition leader Nelson Chamisa called for the nullification of the results. Geingob, as incoming SADC chair, is therefore expected to address the issue in a bold and transparent manner, Kamwanyah believes.
According to Kamwanyah this is the perfect opportunity for Ramaphosa to brief Geingob on what has been done behind closed doors and what needs to be done to help Zimbabwe move forward in a more peaceful way.
“It will be a mistake for the incoming and outgoing chairs not to address the issues or at least talk about how it is necessary that peace is maintained in Zimbabwe. “They should also talk about how the Zimbabwe government should not squash opposition and arrest and torture people like what we saw happen to those who protested during the elections.”
Mubita added that the SADC Parliamentary Forum needs to be addressed, especially the intention to turn it into a regional parliament, as well as issues of continental integration arising from tripartite discussions.
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