That the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is a passive and ponderous organisation has long been confirmed by its reactive instead of proactive response to regional threats. Conflicts in Mozambique and eSwatini could have greatly been avoided if the leaders of this organisation meaningfully espoused its vision and mission at every level as contained in its founding protocols that have been amended from time to time presumably for the greater good of the peoples of the region. On paper, SADC is well or reasonably capacitated to deal with every and other threat that could be facing the region. And this based on the SADC Early Warning Centre and the Regional Early Warning Centre respectively. But truth be told, SADC has consistently become the pale shadow of itself. The vision and mission of the organisation are no longer what the founders envisaged.
Information sourced from SADC platforms says the overall objective of SADC Early Warning Centre is defined as to ‘strengthen the SADC mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and resolution in line with the provisions of the Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation and Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ.’ Some of the main functions of the Regional Early Warning Centre are to: ‘Compile strategic assessment and analysis of data collected at regional level; share information on major issues posing threat to the security and stability of the region and, propose ways and means for preventing, combating and managing such threats.’ Curiously, the SADC Ministerial Committee of the Organ was held in Mozambique in July 2003 where it directed the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee to initiate the establishment of the Regional Early Warning System. The Regional Early Warning Centre which was officially launched in Mozambique in 2010 is defined by SADC as ‘the hub which is expected to link with the National Early Warning Centres in all Member States and the Early Warning Centres at the African Union.’ With this Early Warning Centre in place and well or reasonably capacitated to execute its mandate and objectives, it begs the question why the insurgents were able to firstly infiltrate and secondly get established in Mozambique to the extent of causing so much damage to the socio-economic situation Mozambique faces particularly in the Cabo Delgado province in terms of maiming and displacing citizens at such great scale. Latest statistics indicate over 700,000 Mozambique citizens have been displaced with well over 2000 killed in the most atrocious circumstances. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, an estimated 1.3 million are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection arguably caused by SADC’s ineptitude and sloppiness in preventing the insurgents to take full control of the affected area of Cabo Delgado.
Eleven years after the establishment of the Regional Early Warning System complemented by the Early Warning Centres in Member States, SADC is now seized with the Mozambique dire situation it should have long avoided had these two centres not only been protocols on paper but in action. By any stretch of the imagination, it cannot be reasonably argued SADC lacked resources of whatever nature to detect and prevent the insurgency that may have already infiltrated the sub-region partly or wholly. The only plausible reason that could be offered is the passive and ponderous manner in which the SADC political leadership engages in regional matters. Simply put, decisive political will is lacking. It is my firm belief that had the SADC leadership actively and proactively managed the insurgency matter, it would not be incurring the huge financial and human resource loses coupled with the military equipment deployed in the Mozambique military plan.
As if the Mozambique instability was not enough, SADC, and true to its serious political leadership ineptitude, finds itself faced with the eSwatini political instability primarily caused by her citizens crying loudly for democracy reforms. One of the SADC objectives is to ensure the sub region enjoys to the extent possible, universally accepted democratic dispensations where citizens in the region are permitted to determine their self-determination. While it is accepted eSwatini is the last absolute monarchy under King Msawti III, it has since emerged for the longest time that the King is not remotely or otherwise, prepared to let eSwatini citizens to determine their political future brought about through a universally acceptable democratic political process. The current political instability in that country started some four months ago. Instead of proactively acting in the spirit of SADC’s principle of ensuring that conflicts do not escalate to dangerous levels, SADC sat on its laurels until the situation descended to dangerous levels where lives and property were lost. When it took steps to redeem itself, SADC did a shoddy job of selectively engaging with other stakeholders while ignoring others. The troika organ on politics, justice and security under the chairmanship of Botswana at the beginning of the conflict, did not help the situation until its term ended. At the Summit held in Malawi where Rre Elias Magosi was appointed the Executive Secretary, very little if any was deliberated on eSwatini notwithstanding the fact that the Kingdom was under severe strain of political instability. To this day, (and I stand corrected) no official SADC report on eSwatini has been released. At the recent extraordinary Summit in Pretoria, eSwatini it would appear once again, was not prominently in the agenda.
As it stands, eSwatini stands on the edge of a dangerous political cliff with the mother body being SADC watching with sheer complete hopelessness. Many citizens including students are reportedly maimed by the trigger happy security forces each passing day possibly with the concurrence of King Mswati III. Inevitably, the already dire political and socio-economic circumstances of ordinary citizens have become even more complicated with no possible solution in sight. SADC is a spectator.
If anyone still had faith and confidence in this old boys’ club, think again. SADC has, and continues to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of those it purports to represent let alone protect. Zimbabwe is politically and economically falling apart and so is eSwatini with SADC gleefully watching from a distance. During this painful period of Covid-19 pandemic, SADC could not pull its resources together to as far as possible, mount a collective effort to deal with the pandemic. SADC political leadership is not eager to decisively deal with the challenges facing the region because they do not want anyone of them to do the same when their countries face similar problems. If you asked me, the region is as good as having no regional body to stabilise it. Mozambique and eSwatini have pitifully an brutally exposed SADC as a passive and ponderous organisation to the point that it will be not be redeemed anytime soon. eSwatini is on her own and so is the rest of the regional countries. I am prepared to be persuaded otherwise as always. Judge for Yourself.
‘No one is safe until everyone is safe.’ Kindly continue to adhere to all Covid-19 health protocols. We are not out of the woods as yet.
