The fourth meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Committee of Ambassadors and High Commissioners accredited to Botswana was held on 17 February 2017 at SADC House in Gaborone, Botswana.
The SADC Committee of Ambassadors and High Commissioners (CAHC) is one of the mechanisms established to facilitate information dissemination, interaction and consultation between Member States and the Secretariat.
In his welcome remarks, South Africa’s High Commissioner to Botswana, His Excellency Mduduzi Dennis Lembede who chaired the meeting reminded the CAHC based in Botswana on the requirement to accredit to the SADC Secretariat and urged those who had not accredited to do so.
The Executive Secretary of SADC, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, briefed the meeting on the forthcoming SADC Council of Ministers meeting, the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government, and the SADC Ministerial Retreat that will take place in the Kingdom of Swaziland between 5 to 18 March 2017.
The CAHC was informed that the SADC Council of Ministers will among others, review implementation of Council decisions, and discuss the proposed SADC 2017/18 Corporate Plan and Budget which has been aligned with the priorities of the revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2015-2020).
The SADC Ministerial Retreat scheduled to be held from 12 to 14 March 2017 under the theme, “The SADC We Want” will take stock of what SADC has achieved since its establishment in 1980, the challenges it is facing, and determine what needs to be done to ensure success.
“The SADC Ministerial Retreat will examine key issues that are critical to the attainment of the SADC Common Agenda, and produce a report which will be presented to the SADC Council of Ministers and Extraordinary Summit on 18 March 2017’’ Dr Tax explained.
Ambassadors and High Commissioners accredited to Botswana for Angola, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe attended the meeting. Also in attendance was the Deputy Director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Botswana Mr Ishmael Dabutha, and the SADC Secretariat Executive and Management team.
The meeting directed Secretariat copy the CAHC on correspondences with Member States to facilitate flow of information between Secretariat and Member States.
