His Excellency Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi and Chairperson of SADC visits the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana

His Excellency Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi and current Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), visited the SADC Secretariat Headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana on 13th December 2021. 

The President was accompanied Honourable Eisenhower Nduwa Mkaka, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Malawi, who is also the Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers.

The key objectives of the visit were to enable the President who is the current SADC Chairperson to appreciate the work done by the Secretariat in facilitating the SADC regional agenda and to further provide guidance to the Secretariat.

As is customary, Chairpersons of SADC visit the SADC Secretariat Headquarters during their tenure to appreciate the work done by the Secretariat in facilitating the SADC regional integration agenda and to provide guidance on the Secretariat’s implementation of SADC Programmes. 

The SADC Chairperson was appraised on the status of implementation of SADC Programmes, decisions, and the 41st SADC Summit theme, Bolstering Productive Capacities in the Face of COVID 19 Pandemic for Inclusive, Sustainable Economic and Industrial Transformations. The SADC Chairperson also interacted with the SADC Secretariat staff, provided guidance, and signed SADC legal instruments. 

President Chakwera became the Chairperson of SADC on 17th August 2021 during the 41st SADC Summit of Heads of States and Government that was held in Lilongwe, Malawi.

The SADC Chairperson oversees the highest level of the governance structure of SADC, and among others, has the overall mandate of providing policy direction, and controlling the functions of SADC.