2017-08-16Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter Windhoek-President Hage Geingob will leave the country on Friday to attend the 37th Ordinary SADC Summit in Pretoria and the swearing-in of Rwanda’s president-elect Paul Kagame in Kigali. The Namibian head of state is scheduled to attend the Kagame swearing-in on Friday, before jetting off to South Africa for the regional block’s summit, State House confirmed yesterday. Press secretary in the presidency Albertus Aochamub said Geingob will lead the Namibian delegation to the 37th Ordinary SADC Summit of heads of state and government in Pretoria. The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Partnering with the private sector in developing industry and regional value-chains’. The summit will, amongst others, take an overview of the socio-economic situation in the region, gender and development, status on the implementation of the industrialisation strategy and roadmap and a request from the Union of Comoros and Burundi to join SADC. The presidency said the issues on the agenda are of significance to the SADC region, as they enhance the efforts towards achieving regional integration. “Namibia’s participation in the summit shows our commitment to achieving the objectives of the SADC,” the statement read. Namibia is expected to be nominated as the SADC deputy chair, while South Africa will be sworn in as the new SADC chair. The summit will also witness farewell speeches by Angolan President Eduardo Dos as the general election in that country will take place on August 23 and by President Seretse Khama Ian Khama of the Republic of Botswana, who will vacate the office on April 1, 2018. The summit will be preceded by the SADC Council of Ministers as from August 15 to 17. The Namibian head of state will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and senior government officials. President Geingob will be amongst the many international heads of state and government to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Kagame of Rwanda in Kigali, Rwanda on Friday. At both the SADC summit and the inauguration ceremony in Kigali, the Namibian leader is expected to hold bilateral consultations with other leaders in attendance, as has become customary on all his trips outside the country. 2017-08-16Staff Report 2
