Kamwendo Munjila- When the important trip comes along, no one appreciates it
By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
President Hakainde Hichilema has undertaken over 30 trips in 16 months.
Just in January 2023 alone, President Hichilema took trips to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Luanda, Angola, and Dakar, Senegal.
He was just fresh from returning from the USA-African Leadership Summit hosted by President Joe Biden and held in Washington USA.
The trouble with taking every trip that you are invited to and fail to delegate is, when the trip of importance that the President can’t miss comes along, no one will appreciate or understand its significance or importance.
He just appears to be a Kamwendo Munjila!
President Hichilema is the Incoming Chairperson of the SADC Organ and he will be taking over from South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa.
Namibia is hosting the Extraordinary SADC Organ Troika Summit.
The gathering started with a meeting of senior government officials, and was followed by ministers.
The Organs’ Incoming Chairperson and Outgoing Chairperson are expected to present their reports at the summit
There are secuirty concerns in Eastern DRC/Rwanda, and continued insecurities in Cabo Delgado in Northern Mozambique.
Further political tensions are rising in Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Madagascar and the DRC which countries have elections due this year.
The region is also facing storms, droughts and floods and has affected food security and energy security and many countries are facing the worst period of electricity load-shedding that may threaten economic and industrial growth.
Therefore an emergency summit has been called to discuss issues relating to politics and the security situation in the region.
King Mswati III has delegated the trip. In his place will be the Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, who will deliver a report on the security situation in Eswatini.
The SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation was established in 2001 as an Institution responsible for promoting peace and security in the regionIt is managed on a Troika basis and is coordinated at the level of Summit, consisting of a Chairperson.
SADC is a Regional Economic Community comprising 17 member states in Southern Africa.
CONCLUSION
As Incoming Troika Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security,this is meeting Zambia and President Hichilema must attend.
But becuase he has previously undertaken trips that he should have skipped or delegated, few appreciate his frequent foreign visits, especially with an economy in dire straits and a people facing the highest cost of living witnessed so far.