FULL TRANSCRIPT: President Emmerson Mnangagwa Acceptance Speech

 

The First Lady, Amai Dr. A. Mnangagwa;

Your Majesty, King Mswati III, of the Kingdom

of Eswatini;

Your Excellency, João Lourenço, President of the

Republic of Angola and Outgoing Chairperson of

SADC;

Your Excellency, Samia Hassan, President of the

United Republic of Tanzania, and the Chairperson

of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security

Cooperation;

Your Excellency, Hakainde Hichilema, President

of the Republic of Zambia and Outgoing

Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence

and Security Cooperation;

Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government

and Heads of Delegation;

Your Excellency, Chairperson of the SADC Panel

of Elders, Former President Jakaya Kikwete;

Your Excellencies First Ladies here present;

Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,

Hon. Gen. (Rtd) Dr. C. G. D. N. Chiwenga;

Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,

Hon. Col. (Rtd) K. C. D. Mohadi;

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International

Trade, Chairperson of the SADC Council of

Ministers, Ambassador F. M. Shava;

Honourable Ministers and Various Political

Leaders of the Republic of Zimbabwe ;

Your Excellency, Mr Elias Magosi, SADC

Executive Secretary;

Your Excellency, Executive Secretary of the

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa,

Ambassador Claver Gatete;

Your Excellencies, Heads of Regional Economic

Communities and International Organisations,

here present;

Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic

Corps;

Senior Officials and Delegates from SADC

Member States;

Distinguished Guests;

Members of the Media

Fellow SADC Citizens.

 

May I express my profound appreciation to His

Excellency, João Lourenço, President of the

Republic of Angola, for the astute and visionary

leadership in steering our organisation, as

Chairperson of SADC during the past year.

We heartly congratulate and commend him for

ably navigating the various challenges we faced

and for ensuring that the integration agenda of our

region remained on course.

 

On behalf of the people and Government of

Zimbabwe, I take over the mantle of Chairperson

of SADC, with humility and grace. I look

forward, Your Excellencies, to your invaluable

support, and drawing from your vast experiences

and counsel, as we advance our regional agenda

for the benefit of our SADC citizens.

Allow me to also acknowledge the dedication

and leadership demonstrated by His Excellency,

Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic

of Zambia, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the

Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.

The Organ remains a critical cog in nurturing, unity,

constitutionalism, democracy, and the rule of law as

well as peace and security, in line with the founding

values, ethos and principles of SADC.

Similarly, I congratulate, Her Excellency, Samia

Hassan, the President of the United Republic of

Tanzania, on her assumption of the stewardship5

over the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security

Cooperation. Rest assured of our full support.

Your Majesty, Excellencies, Ladies and

Gentlemen;

This year’s theme, “Promoting Innovation

to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable

Economic Growth and Development towards

an Industrialised SADC”, brings to the fore

the role of innovation in sustained economic

transformation and development.

It is a clarion call for our respective countries

to leverage the region’s human capital, to spur

technology and innovation that will leap-frog the

mordernisation and industrialisation of SADC

towards a higher quality of life of our citizens.

To this end, it has become critically important

and urgent to harness the potential of innovation

to produce goods and services through value6

addition and beneficiation of our rich mineral

and related natural resources. The peoples of the

region fought for our liberation, freedom and

independence as well as the economic value of

our land and that which is under it. The time is

now, we must realise maximum value from our

God given rich natural endowments.

The importance of deploying innovative strategies,

across all sectors of our economies to accelerate

the realisation of our collective development

agenda cannot be over-emphasised.

This is more so as the Fourth Industrial Revolution

continues to impact and transform the way we

operate and execute our work. Our SADC bloc

cannot afford to fall behind in the new and fast

changing frontier of science, technology and

innovation. These aspects are a pre-requisite for

increased productivity and indeed the bedrock

upon which other parts of the world industrialised

and developed.Let us, therefore, match our aspirations set out in

the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap

(2015-2063) with concrete and real actions. It is

pleasing that the successful SADC Industrialisation

Week and Investment Forum provided a public-

private engagement platform where participants

discussed and shared innovative approaches.

The 7th SADC Public Lecture also helped to raise

public awareness on the critical role of innovation

in promoting and deepening the SADC regional

integration efforts.

Stakeholders across the region are exhorted

to scale up people to people and business to

business exchanges for enhanced synergies and

collaboration.

Our institutions of higher learning, the academia,

scientists and innovators must equally strengthen

linkages to further drive the innovation,

modernisation and industrialisation of our region.

 

In the case of Zimbabwe, we have set up several

innovation hubs at all State Universities and related

institutions. These have achieved remarkable

success in developing a sense of self-belief,

skills and competencies. Further, initiatives under

the programmes have transformed livelihoods,

communities and the economy as a whole, through

the production of appropriate goods and services.

The need to ensure that our youth and entrepreneurs,

including women, fully embrace the technology

and innovation revolution should be one of our

key priorities.

Through purposeful collaboration in the ICT

sector, we can advance our collective interests as

a region, including closing the digital divide.

As the current crop of leaders, we have a weighty

responsibility to facilitate a conducive environment

8for our citizenry to thrive and do their part for the

realisation of the modern and industrialised SADC

we all want. No one and no country should be left

behind.

Your Majesty, Excellencies and Distinguished

Guests;

The democracy, independence and freedom

being enjoyed by the peoples’ of the region were

paid for through the sweat, tears and blood of

yester-year heroes and heroines as well as sons

and daughters of SADC. We have a sacred duty

to honour them all by jealously guarding and

defending our sovereignty and right to economic

self-determination. We are a proud Southern

African people with a rich history and a brighter

future.

Let us never sacrifice our unity, solidarity or African

culture for political or economic expediency.

Ultimately, the burden and responsibility to

9build our countries and the region as a whole,

for sustainable prosperity, lies with us, the great

peoples’ of SADC.

In Zimbabwe our development philosophy is that

“a Country is built, governed and prayed for by

its people”.

‘Nyika inovakwa, inotongwa, inonamatigwa

nevene vayo/ilizwe lakhiwa, libuswe,

likhulekelwe ngabanikazi balo’. Likewise,

our region SADC will be modernised and

industrialised by its own citizens, through our

individual and collective efforts. Those who seek

to help us are welcome, however, they must do

so, on our terms, guided by our priorities and

respecting our sovereignty.

I, therefore, challenge my fellow citizens of the

region to remain unapologetic and confident in

who we are, as a people and in our God given

10abilities. Through unity and hard honest work,

nothing is impossible.

Your Excellencies;

Regrettably, the region continues to experience

climate change induced natural disasters which

have had far reaching negative impacts on

human and food security. In light of the lessons

learnt, investments in transformative agriculture

and food systems, must be scaled up. Through

robust climate mitigation strategies and resilience

building mechanisms, we must continually strive

to be a region capable of feeding ourselves.

The full operationalisation of the SADC

Humanitarian and Emergency Centre must be

given due attention. During our wars of liberation,

we shared trenches and our countries, to dislodge

the racist colonial regimes for the realisation of our

independence and freedom. Now, in plenty and in

11lack, in good times and bad, we shall continue to

stand as one united and indivisible SADC.

In accelerating the modernisation and

industrialisation of our countries, the broadening

and expansion of our energy infrastructure with

particular emphasis on renewables is critically

important. As developing countries we contribute

the least to global carbon emissions and yet are,

the most affected.

In an endeavour to promote the green agenda, my

Government is broadening our country’s energy

mix. This has seen the generation of energy from

waste, along with other renewable energy sources.

One such facility which converts waste to energy

is the Geo-Pomona Waste Management Plant. A

visit to the facility has been arranged as part of

our programme on 18th August, 2024.

 

Your Majesty, Your Excellencies, Ladies and

Gentlemen;

I assume the Chairmanship of SADC, aware of

the historic and momentous role played by our

Founding Fathers and their vision for a united,

independent, integrated, peaceful and prosperous

region.

It is indeed most opportune that this 44th Ordinary

SADC Summit is convening a few days after we

commemorated our 44th National Heroes Day,

on 12 August 2024. We remain mindful that the

protracted struggle for the liberation of our beloved

motherland, Zimbabwe, would have never been

realised without the support of our brothers and

sisters in our region as well as other progressive

countries from beyond. We are forever grateful.

It is in this unquenchable spirit that Zimbabwe

is pleased to invite Your Excellencies and your14

esteemed delegations to witness the unveiling of

the SADC Liberation Square, which is located

within the premises of the Museum of African

Liberation. The true story of our rich liberation

heritage must be preserved and told to present

and future generations, through our own African

narratives. For a people without knowledge of

their history, origin and culture, are like trees

without roots.

Earlier this year, our region was saddened by the

passing on, of the President of the Republic of

Namibia, His Excellency, Hage Geingob.

He was a liberation hero, visionary statesman and

pragmatic leader who served, not only the people

of Namibia, but SADC as a whole. A staunch

defender of African independence, freedom

and non-interference in our internal affairs, his

unwavering commitment to justice, dignity and

equality will be treasured for posterity. May his

soul continue to rest in eternal peace.15

Your Excellencies;

It is my humble and sincere hope that the

SADC year ahead will enable us to accelerate

the implementation of regional projects and

programmes. These include those related to cross

border energy projects, transport infrastructure

development, as well as climate proofing our

agriculture and growing our manufacturing,

tourism and SMEs, among other critical sectors.

As Member States, let us double efforts through

innovation to improve on our implementation

scorecard while scaling up the regional

industrialisation and integration Agenda. None

of our countries must be left behind.

As I conclude, may I once again express my

sincere appreciation to you all, for your calls

for the immediate and unconditional lifting of

the illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by

our detractors. We strongly condemn the use of16

sanctions and other coercive measures as a foreign

policy tool.

By the same token, allow me to call for the end of

the conflict in Palestine and appeal for the respect

of UN Resolutions on the Two State solution.

Similarly, the independence of the peoples of

Western Saharawi is long overdue.

“Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy

of none”. We firmly believe in dialogue and

diplomacy as the sustainable route for the

resolution of conflict and disputes.

We, thus, stand ready to play our part for

consolidating the peace, unity, security and

stability of our SADC region and “Silencing the

Guns” on our African Continent.

Going forward, as I humbly assume this

Chairmanship of our august Bloc, I want to assure17

the people of our SADC region that, Zimbabwe

will continue to advance the cherished founding

principles, values, goals and objectives, envisioned

by the great luminaries and Founding Fathers of

our region. Aluta Continua; Victory is Certain.

With these remarks, may I, once again, welcome

you Your Majesty, Excellencies and Distinguished

Guests, and wish you all a productive and fruitful

Summit.

Long live SADC unity, solidarity, independence

and Freedom.

Long Live African Unity.

God bless you all.

I thank you.

Asante Sana.

Muito Obrigado.

Merci Beaucoup.