Page 12 - 41st Summit Brochure

which traces the journey that SADC has travelled since its formation. Some of these and
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more achievements are described in this 41 Summit Brochure under the section that
summarizes the key activities and programmes undertaken by different Directorates and
Units in the past year.
The 40 Years of SADC publication includes a section on the Honouring of SADC
Founders. That generation of visionary leaders included the founding presidents of Angola,
Botswana, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe: Dr Agostinho
Neto, Sir Seretse Khama, Samora Machel, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda and Robert Mugabe,
respectively. This golden generation of selfless leaders believed in a united region where all the
citizens enjoy high living standards and peace. We owe it to these leaders for establishing the
Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) in 1980, which was later
transformed into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 1992.
It is with deep sorrow that we mourn the passing on of one of the last SADC Founders,
the late first President of independent Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda who passed on 17 June
2021. Zambia has not only lost its liberation leader, but the loss of “KK” as he was popularly
known has also deprived southern Africa of a strong campaigner for African unity and
deeper regional integration.
In recognition of the sacrifices and their commitment to Southern African political
freedom, regional integration and regional economic development, a Mechanism in Honour
of the Founders of SADC, which will include a Museum, has been established. It is everyone’s
duty to preserve the legacy of our Founding Fathers.
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This 41 Summit Brochure dedicates a full section to the Republic of Malawi as the
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Host Nation of the 41 SADC Heads of State and Government Summit under the leadership
of His Excellency, President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, who becomes the Chairperson
of SADC as of 18 August 2021 to August 2022.
10 This publication also contains a section on the SADC Media Awards to honour

journalists who tell the SADC Story and promote deeper integration, as well as the SADC
Secondary Schools Essay Competition to ensure that we engender the spirit of togetherness
among the leaders of tomorrow.
The year 2021 has also been a year of major setbacks for SADC with the loss of leaders
in the United Republic of Tanzania and the Kingdom of Eswatini. We lost His Excellency
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Dr John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, the 5 President of the United Republic of Tanzania, who
died on 17 March 2021, and the Right Honourable Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, the Prime
Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini, who passed on 13 December 2020. The region also
lost a number of government ministers, public and private sector officials, frontline workers,
and SADC citizens. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
As President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Magufuli was the Chairperson
of SADC from August 2019 until August 2020. His many achievements at the helm of SADC
include finalization of the formulation of the SADC Vision 2050 and the SADC Regional
Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030; approval of the SADC Protocol on
Industry, which aims to improve the policy environment for industrial development and to
support implementation; the adoption of Kiswahili as the fourth Official Working Language
of SADC in honour of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere; and the approval of 25October as a day for
SADC Member States to call for the removal of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
It is my hope that you will find this 41 SADC Summit Brochure useful. I wish to express
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my gratitude to our knowledge partner, the Southern African Research and Documentation
Centre (SARDC), for their continued dedication and professional support in preparing both the
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40 Years of SADC publication and this 41 Summit Brochure.

Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax
SADC Executive Secretary
August 2021