Malawi has pledged to support the candidature of Botswana’s Elias Magosi for the position of head of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat.
This followed Monday’s one-day working visit to Malawi by Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi during which he solicited Lilongwe’s support for Magosi who is vying for the position of SADC executive secretary.
“Let me officially ask the people of Malawi, through Your Excellency, to support your brother Elias Magosi, a Botswana dedicated young man and well qualified, who is now vying for the position of executive secretary for SADC,” Masisi said at the end of his meeting with Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera in Lilongwe on Malawi night.
The term of the current SADC executive secretary Stergomena Lawrence Tax is due to come to an end this year, with a successor expected to be appointed during the regional body’s annual summit set for Malawi in August 2020.
The Malawian leader pledged to support Magosi’s candidature and announced that the two leaders had also agreed to strengthen economic and political ties, including establishing diplomatic missions.
Chakwera will be taking over from Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi as chairman of the 16-member SADC in August for a one-year term.
JN/APA