The Extraordinary Organ Troika summit of the Heads of State and Government of the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) met in emergency session Jan. 31 to discuss issues related to regional peace and security. Meeting in the capital of Namibia, Winhoek, members examined the security situations in Eswatini and Lesotho with the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as tensions between DR Congo and Mozambique.
The Heads of State and Government of Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, and South Africa, attended, as well as relevant ministers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique. Dr. Hage Geingob, President of Namibia, chaired the meeting.
As this news service has documented, the U.S. White House, State Department, and Congress have repeatedly pressured African leaders to abandon neutrality on the issue of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and side with the West in denouncing Russia. The SADC final communique on the meeting took the opportunity to make clear that these tactics have failed. It states:
“Summit adopted the draft African Union Declaration on the USA proposed ‘Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act’ and urged Member States to communicate SADC’s position, and reaffirmed the stance of Non-Alignment on conflicts outside the continent and the region at multilateral fora. “
