(3 minutes read)
· President and new Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Lazarus Chakwera said that inequality in access to Covid-19 vaccines “no longer acceptable
· He stressed that Vaccine belonged to all nations, irrespective of who found it
· In another development, SADC praised Zambia for overseeing a peaceful transition of power after a veteran opposition politician won a landslide victory at the ballot box
President and new Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Lazarus Chakwera said that inequality in access to Covid-19 vaccines “no longer acceptable. He stressed that Vaccine belongs to all nations, irrespective of who found it.
In another development, SADC praised Zambia for overseeing a peaceful transition of power after a veteran opposition politician won a landslide victory at the ballot box. Hakainde Hichilema was declared the winner on Monday afterroundly defeating Edgar Lungu, who had been in power for six years.
It is the third time that power has changed hands to the opposition in Zambia since 1991, on a continent where incumbent leaders often hold on to power for decades.
The Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera, was speaking at the summit of southern African leaders recently. Chakwera, himself a former opposition politician, came to power last year after the re-election of his predecessor Arthur Mutharika was scrapped for vote rigging and the ballot re-staged. He told the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) that regional peace and security depended on democratic norms being sustained and on the protection of human rights.
In his first address to the nation, Hichilema, 59, assured his predecessor — whose administration arrested him several times that he would not be vindictive unlike the previous regime. African leaders have been slow in delivering their congratulatory messages — with most of them only doing so more than 24 hours after the results were proclaimed.
