The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is likely to discuss the diplomatic tensions between Zambia and Zimbabwe at its Ministerial Committee of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation to be held on 11-12 July 2024 in Lusaka, Zambia.
SADC’s senior officials met from 08-09 July 2024 at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia, ahead of the meeting.
According to a statement by the regional body, the upcoming meeting will consider matters arising from the Interstate Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC) and “emerging threats to peace and security in the region”.
The diplomatic row between Zambia and Zimbabwe erupted last month after a video surfaced of Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa complaining to Russian leader Vladimir Putin about Zambia’s relationship with Western countries.
“The West has just begun consolidating its power in Zambia, our next neighbour. You know, there was a time when Zambia and Zimbabwe were one; it was called Northern and Southern Rhodesia.
“It was made one by the British, but they are now separate. And the Americans are consolidating their power in that country, both in terms of security and in terms of financial support to Zambia,” Mnangagwa told Putin.
Zambia’s Foreign Affairs minister, Mulambo Haimbe, accused Zimbabwe of attacking its sovereignty and sought help from SADC and the African Union to resolve the dispute.
“We are alive to the fact that we as members of the wider global community in both the regional and continental contexts there is a need to find a lasting solution to the matters in issue through an appropriate mediation process, which should result in measurable outcomes.
“It is in this context that we have sought the regional bodies’ urgent and immediate intervention in relation to the present and any other matters in seeming contention between Zimbabwe and ourselves,” he said.
The SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation was established in 1996 to promote peace and security in the region.
The organ is currently being chaired by the Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema who will be succeeded by Mnangagwa next month. The post is rotational.
The just ended meeting was chaired by Etambuyu Anamela Gundersen, Permanent Secretary – International Relations and Cooperation and Chairperson of the Senior Officials for the SADC Ministerial Committee of the Organ.
Gundersen highlighted that the SADC region continues to enjoy relative peace and security, despite pockets of vulnerability and insecurity, including the situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
She called on SADC Member States to remain vigilant and address emerging developments in the region that have the potential to erupt into conflict situations if left unchecked.
The situation was also described as “the emerging threats to peace and security”.
The diplomatic rift between Zambia and Zimbabwe has raised concerns about its potential impact on regional peace and security, despite the two nations having enjoyed a long history of warm relations that stems from the liberation struggle.
But the truth is ………
Zimbabwe’s army is in Russia, in Zimbabwe there are gangsters terrorising the citizens.