400 delegates set for Sadc
The much-anticipated 41st Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Heads of State and Government begins today at the Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe.
About 400 delegates are expected to be in attendance.
As of on Sunday morning, some international delegates had already started jetting in, including top officials from the Sadc Secretariat in Botswana.
Briefing the media on Sunday in Lilongwe on Malawi’s state of preparedness, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eisenhower Mkaka, who also chairs the Ministerial Committee on Sadc Summit, expressed appreciation to the ten sub-committees which he said have worked hard for Malawi to host the meeting.,
Mkaka, who was flanked by Minister of Information Gospel Kazako, said the opening and closing ceremonies of the summit will be limited to delegates attending the actual meeting while other participants will follow through Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) which will provide feed to all media outlets.
He said the working budget has so far been capped at K4 billion and it has catered for activities, including the purchases of VVIP and VIP vehicles, rehabilitation and uplifting of the Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) apron and the runway, maintenance and associated painting of the M1 from KIA to Area 18 and Ufulu Road.
Said Mkaka: “The money has also been used to pay for the venue [BICC], enhancing security during the summit, and the purchasing of ICT equipment for enhanced virtual participation.”
He said government has bought 10 VIP and also 10 VVIP vehicles for the summit at a cost of about K2 billion.
The minister further said the ministerial committee has approved K1.2 billion which is part of the K4 billion budget for operations.
“Treasury only provided an amount of K700 million for hosting Sadc summit in the current financial budget, which presents a shortfall of K524 598 814.The ministry’s Resource Mobilisation Task Force has been engaging with the private sector and development partners to support the shortfall of the budget in cash and kind,” He also disclosed that the European Union (EU) has committed to provide K20 million for the procurement of 15 desktops for the media centre which has been setup at the venue. The EU is also supporting the production of banners amounting to K5 million.
While local commercial banks have supported in purchasing branding materials, including the bags and souvenirs, and meeting the cost of lunch and cocktail for delegates, he said.
On his part, Kazako pleaded with the media and all Malawians to avoid “bad-mouthing” Malawi which he said would damage the image of the country as a tourist and investment destination.
On Sunday, Vice-President Saulos Chilima also endorsed all preparatory works ahead of the summit.
The Veep has been inspecting progress on preparations throughout last week and pushed hard for results while giving deadlines to various sub-committees.
Malawi is scheduled to host the Sadc summit from August 9 to 18 in the capital city where Chakwera will assume chairmanship of the 16-member bloc for 12 months.
The summit will focus on trade facilitation and economic transformation; development of a robust intelligence and security system against all forms of terrorism for regional peace and security and strengthening regional integration at national level through the Sadc National Committee structures and how to enhance Covid-19 regional response.
In a recent interview, director of information Chikumbutso Mtumodzi said government projects that 30 percent of foreign delegates will not physically attend the meeting due to Covid-19 regulations.
The scheduled 41st summit will be held under the theme Bolstering Productive Capacities in the Face of Covid-19 Pandemic for Sustainable Economic Transformation.
Malawi has hosted the Sadc Heads of State and Government Ordinary Summit twice in August 1997 and August 2013.
