Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Mozambique and Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, Hon. Oldemiro Marques Baloi, commended the SADC Secretariat for identifying ways to address challenges facing it and encouraged it to keep up the good work even when faced with challenges.
Addressing a meeting of the SADC Secretariat Management Team and Heads of Stand-alone Units during his working visit to the SADC Secretariat on February 21, 2013, Hon. Baloi said, where there are people, there tends to be challenges “but these only become problems when we fail to address them,” he said, adding, “The entire Region trusts you. The entire Region is expecting a lot from you… keep up the good work and lead our organisation.”
Visiting the Secretariat as part a prelude for the now customary visit of the SADC Chairperson to SADC Headquarters, Hon. Baloi was given a guided tour of the Secretariat during which he stepped into some offices, practicing what some management experts advocate as “Management by Walking About” (MBWA), a good practice that gives leaders and managers the chance to see staff members at work. It is also deemed an important factor in inter relations building that gives leaders and managers a chance to appreciate the deliverables as they appreciate the space where staff produce them.
Hon. Baloi also visited, amongst others, the SADC Secretariat archives and the Library. At the latter, in addition to being briefed on the SADC library collection, he also viewed the Down Memory Lane pictorial history of SADC. This collection consists of Heads of State and Government or representatives of the then only nine majority ruled nations of southern Africa that founded SADC in 1980 signing the SADC Treaty and Declaration, or those of the other countries as their nations joined SADC in subsequent years. It also depicts SADC Executive Secretaries and their deputies as at 2010 when the exhibition was first prepared for the 30th SADC Jubilee.
