Why Namibia 'reluctantly' took over as Sadc organ chair from SA

When Namibian President Hage Geingob was told that he was next in line to take over as the chair of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) organ on politics, defence and security co-operation from President Cyril Ramaphosa, he was reluctant.

Last week after returning from the 42nd ordinary summit of Sadc heads of state and government held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Geingob told a gathering that he was accused of “flip-flopping” on the matter.

Speaking during the seventh congress of the  South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) Party Youth League in his country he said he did not think his country had the economic muscle needed for the role.

“I said when I accepted, (I was) not flip-flopping ... (I told them that) I will accept because they are all asking and begging me.

“Ask the people who were there, they were saying: ‘No, you have to take it, you delivered DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo)’. But I told them that I don’t have the means and then I recall those who were helping us who did not have the means.”

Explaining what Geingob meant, his spokesperson Alfredo Hengari told TimesLIVE that Namibia initially had reservations about taking the position of the organ troika from Ramaphosa.

“These consideration were based on the activity and travel schedule that is expected from the chair of the organ and also because Namibia has been in a tight fiscal position.”

However Hengari said Geingob eventually “reflected about the importance of the position and also in light of the fact that Namibia received support during the liberation struggle from countries that did not have the requisite resources to support Namibia”.

“Namibia chaired Sadc in 2018-2019 at a very difficult time in the region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with that country going through its first transfer of power since 1960 [from one elected president to another]. He also provided counsel to the president of Union of the Comoros Azali Assoumani on the political transition in the elections of 2019 emphasising inclusion in the political process.”

Namibia, he said, will do “its level best to ensure that all of the outstanding matters on the agenda of the organ are dealt with in a manner that advances peace and security in the region which includes the Sadc mission in Mozambique in the province of Cabo Delgado, and the process in Lesotho which has been under the mediation of President Cyril Ramaphosa of SA.”

Hangari said Namibia, as chair, will look after the processes in Angola on August 2024 and the elections in Lesotho in October.

So just what does it mean to be the chair of the organ and what does the position entail?

Senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies Liesl Louw-Vaudran said the chair of the Sadc is the most important function.

This is the position which has now been assumed by Congo’s president Félix Antoine Tshisekedi for 2022-2023, a position which was previously held by Malawi’s president Lazarus Chakwera.

“The chair of Sadc heads all the meetings and makes decisions globally. The DRC is now the chair, it was previously Malawi and the next one is Angola. These are rotational positions of the main troika of Sadc — the chair, the previous chair and the incoming chair.”

The organ on politics, defence and security is separate and deals with politics.

“It so happens that for us, that’s the most interesting and the most important and that is where Sadc is seen to be playing a role. The organ troika this year was SA chairing, last year it was Botswana and now from this summit, it’s going to be Namibia.”

Louw-Vaudran says Geingbob’s response to his tenure is commendable because it showed that he “takes the matter seriously”.

“I really think that President Geingob should be applauded because it shows that he takes this seriously and thinks about what the costs are. The costs pertain to chairing of meetings and to tell you the honest truth it’s not more onerous or expensive than chairing Sadc, which Namibia did in 2018.”

Louw-Vaudran said perhaps Geingob wanted to imply that chairing the organ could mean that a country would have to send more troops and support to assist struggling or troubled countries.

“He might feel that obligation but it’s not that. It doesn’t have to be that. I say he must be applauded because a country like the DRC, that also has financial difficulties — struggling to pay their civil servants and with major constraints in important embassies around the world — are under strain like many other countries — they are now chairing Sadc.

“And they recently joined the East Africa Community as they are also part of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), the central African community, so they are now part of three economic communities ...

“I think that Geingob is taking it seriously and it’s good that they have accepted because Sadc was created in Namibia in 1992 and they have always been proactive.”

At AU level, a country has refused to chair.

“I think in 2015 the summit of the of the AU was supposed to take place in Chad and it ended up taking place in SA because they were in conflict and they did not have the money to build new hotels.”

While it has happened before, Louw-Vaudran said she couldn’t recall it happening at Sadc level.

TimesLIVE

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