PRETORIA, South Africa, 20 February 2015 / PRN Africa / — 1. The Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Double Troika was held in Pretoria, Republic of South Africa on 20 February 2015.
2. Summit was attended by the following Heads of State and Government or their representatives:
Zimbabwe H.E. Robert Gabriel Mugabe
South Africa H.E. Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma
Lesotho Right Honourable Dr. Thomas Thabane
Botswana H.E. Mokgweetsi Masisi, Vice President
Namibia Right Honourable Dr. Hage G. Geingob, Prime Minister and President Elect of the Republic of Namibia
Malawi Hon. Dr. George Chaponda – Minister of Foreign Affairs.
3. Summit was also attended by the Executive Secretary of SADC, H.E. Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax.
4. Summit considered the political and security situation in the Region, in particular the latest developments in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
5. Summit received the Report of the Facilitator on the latest political developments in Lesotho and the electoral process.
6. Summit welcomed progress made towards the finalization of the Lesotho Dialogue and commended both the Facilitator and key stakeholders including the Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho for the preparations of the electoral process.
7. Summit noted that the SADC Election Advisory Council (SEAC) undertook a mission to the Kingdom of Lesotho and confirmed that the political atmosphere and security situation are conducive to hold elections as scheduled.
8. Summit also noted that the SADC Electoral Observer Mission (SEOM) to Lesotho was launched on 18 February 2015.
9. Summit called upon all Stakeholders in Lesotho to abide by the commitments made in the three SADC-brokered agreements, specifically the Maseru Facilitation Declaration, Maseru Security Accord and Electoral Pledge.
10. Summit condemned any actions that may compromise the holding of peaceful, free, fair and credible elections.
11. Summit approved the extension of the Status of Forces Agreement for the deployment in the Kingdom of Lesotho for another three months until 31st March 2015.
12. Summit called upon stakeholders in the Kingdom of Lesotho to pay attention to security sector and constitutional reforms, post 2015 Parliamentary Elections, with the support of SADC.
13. Summit approved the mandate of the SOMILES to include co-locating SADC Police with the Lesotho Mounted Police Service for the purpose of assisting in the securing of ballot papers and voting stations during the upcoming elections, with immediate effect until 5 March 2015.
14. Summit commended the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republics of Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe for remitting their assessed contributions towards the SADC Deployment in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
15. Summit urged Member States to honour their assessed contributions to support the Politics, Defence and Security Mission in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
16. Summit requested Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the DRC and the United Republic of Tanzania to deploy more Police to support the Kingdom of Lesotho Mounted Police with immediate effect until 05 March 2015;
17. Summit reiterated its support to the efforts of H.E. Jacob Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa and Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, for his exemplary work towards restoring political stability, peace and security in the Kingdom of Lesotho, and H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa and SADC Facilitator to the Kingdom of Lesotho for excellent facilitation towards returning the political stability in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
18. Summit urged the Double Troika to remain seized with the developments in Lesotho.
19. Summit commended the Government and people of the Republic of South Africa for hosting the Double Troika Summit.
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