By BLAIR MHONE
President Lazarus Chakwera has urged Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states to lean on each other during these times of ‘economic turbulence’ for the betterment of their citizens.
President Chakwera made the remarks when he presided over the official opening of the 51st Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (Sadc-PF) in Lilongwe at the Bingu International Conference Centre.
In his remarks, the Malawi leader said during hard times like recent economic troubles its when countries need to work together and lean on each other.
“In times of hardships and calamity that we in Africa lean on those we regard as family. This is time to band together for strength as we face global and regional upheavals and threats to our way of life,” said Chakwera.
He also said he was happy that integration is being strengthened at the lawmaking stage which is a crucial component in any democratic infrastructure.
And he added that regional integration especially in sharing sustainable energy solutions can go a long way in solving some of the problems being faced by other member states like Malawi.
“My administration expects to tap more into this regional inter-parliamentary think-tank as it explores various strategic thrusts by regional parliaments to achieve sustainable livelihoods through progressive and climate-conscious energy legislation.
“For Malawi which is already upscaling legislative and infrastructure capabilities in integrating our power sector into the Southern African Power Pool – this session speaks into our development agenda,” added Chakwera.
Addressing the forum before President Chakwera, Speaker of the Parliament of Malawi, Catherine Gotani Hara on her part emphasised on promotion of locally based solutions and products to current challenges especially climate change.
Sadc-PF is a regional inter-parliamentary body composed of legislators from the Sadc region representing over 3, 500 parliamentarians.
This year’s plenary session started on 7th July and is expected to end on 16th July with the theme ‘Towards Energy Efficiency Sustainability and Self Sufficiency in the SADC Region.’
