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Misanet.com / The Namibian, 12 March - Regional integration was put to the test on the extraordinary Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Windhoek, Namibia, this weekend. Namibia and South Africa managed to wrest the defence organ from Muabe's Zimbabwe, while Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland threatened to withdraw their membership if heavyweights 'imposed' a candidate for new Executive Secretary. In a major step which signals the throttling of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's influence in the region, southern African leaders have ruled that the head of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security should report to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) chairman. The leadership of the Organ, which Mugabe has clung on to since its inception in 1996, will now also be rotational. SADC has given Mugabe until the next Summit, to be held in Malawi in August, to chair the defence arm after which it will cease to function independently under his chairmanship. SADC Chairman and Namibian President Sam Nujoma said the summit had succeeded in overcoming all obstacles that had, in the past, stood in the way of a smooth relationship and interaction between the regional bloc and the defence arm. "In this way, we will now be able to ensure flexibility for the Organ to promptly act in emergency situations in the sub-region and, at the same time, provide for it to report at the Summit level," he said. A communique issued following a one-day extraordinary SADC summit in Windhoek said the Organ would now be integrated into the SADC structures and would be co-ordinated on a Troika basis. "The chairperson of the Organ shall be on a rotational basis for a period of one year," the communique said. Namibian President Nujoma said the Organ was important to the region as it would be used to counter all sorts of trouble in the region like coups. Mugabe will now no longer be able to act unilaterally, as has been the case since 1996, taking decisions on behalf of the regional bloc and angering some members, most notably South Africa. A Zimbabwean delegate to the summit maintained Mugabe supported the changes since he wanted unity within the region. The delegate's sentiments were echoed by Nujoma who denied reports of division among SADC leaders. According to the Namibian President, all decisions were reached "amicably and unanimously". The leaders have approved a restructured secretariat with the current 21 sectors spread throughout the 14 member states to be replaced by four core clusters based in Gaborone, Botswana. The phasing out of existing commissions and sectors will be undertaken within two years with the establishment of the directorate on trade, industry, finance and investment to occur first - between March and August this year. The directorate of food, agriculture and natural resources will be the next - between August and December. Social and human development and special programmes will be established next year. Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Hidipo Hamutenya, told The Namibian the restructuring would save SADC around US$ 4,1 million a year. "The cost of SADC operations will be cheaper by US$ 4,1 million. Before we spent US$ 16 million a year but it will go down to around US$ 12 million a year. SADC will also be leaner, more effective and cheaper to operate," he said. Cracks in SADC unity within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was tested to the limit during Friday's extraordinary summit when some smaller members of the regional grouping threatened to withdraw their membership if heavyweights 'imposed' a candidate for new Executive Secretary. The summit had to settle on a compromise choice - former acting Executive Secretary, Prega Ramsamy - as the new SADC chief. Sources said SADC chairman and Namibian President Sam Nujoma prevented a split within the regional bloc when he proposed that the heads of state agree on Ramsamy "to keep unity". "They had to sacrifice their favoured candidates. Namibia, for instance, wanted the Angolan candidate [Albina Assis Africano] but Nujoma appealed to [Angolan President Eduardo] dos Santos to let go..." a source said. Lesotho and Swaziland, supported by Botswana, threatened to withdraw from SADC if their neighbours' choice prevailed. Sources said the disunity over the appointment pinpointed just how fragile unity was within the region. They said the mere absence of specifically Swaziland's King and Lesotho's Prime Minister was a clear indication they were briefed well in advance by their senior officials about what was happening at the three-day long meeting and wanted no part in the wrangle. The sources said Nujoma had to act swiftly to save the situation as he has been campaigning among SADC heads for support for Foreign Affairs Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab as a candidate for Secretary General for the reformed Organisation of African Unity(OAU). Gurirab, who served as UN General Assembly President last year, would stand a good chance of getting the job if SADC countries campaigned on his behalf, sources said. However, Nujoma shot down claims of apparent disunity. "I don't respond to rumours. Go and find the truth yourself. The selection of the Executive Secretary was done democratically. Please don't provoke a situation which didn't prevail," Nujoma said during a media briefing. Nujoma called for unity within the region throughout the summit and appealed for an "attitude of compromise, consensus and a spirit of give and take". During Thursday night's welcoming dinner and the opening session on Friday morning, Nujoma repeatedly emphasised that the region needed to take decisions through consensus and expressed the hope that all 14 members would retain the feeling of belonging to the regional bloc. At the closing ceremony he said issues were discussed while keeping in mind that the ultimate aim was to remain one regional economic grouping and at the same time to ensure that the sovereignty of individual countries was not compromised. Angolan Minister of Presidential Affairs Africano was widely tipped for the post of Executive Secretary.
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