The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will on Saturday hold an extraordinary summit to discuss the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique, the regional bloc has announced.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Gaborone-based SADC Secretariat announced that the regional bloc would on March 23 convene an extraordinary summit of its three-member security organ together with members of the SADC Troika, which comprises leaders of Angola, Zimbabwe and DRC.
The meeting, scheduled for March 23 in the Zambian capital Lusaka, would also be attended by the presidents of DRC and Mozambique as well as leaders of countries contributing troops to the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC) and to the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM).
“The Summit will discuss the security situation in the SADC region with focus on the situation in the eastern part of the DRC and Cabo Delgado in the northern Mozambique,” the statement said.
It is expected to receive an update on progress on the operations of SAMIDRC and SAMIM, which were deployed to support the governments of the DRC and Mozambique to restore peace, security and stability in eastern DRC and Cabo Delgado province, respectively.
SAMIDRC comprises troops from Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania while SAMIM is made up of soldiers from Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
The meeting would be chaired by Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema in his capacity as chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation. The SADC Organ is responsible for the promotion of peace and security in the region.
Other members of the organ troika are President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania and Namibia’s President Nangolo Mbumba.
JN/APA