DRC President Tshisekedi takes over from Chakwera to lead SADC

Félix Tshisekedi has taken the helm of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) during the 42nd Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of this organization which is being held in Kinshasa from August 17 and 18, 2022. 

He succeeds Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi.

The outgoing SADC president called upon member countries to be independent of external influence especially the Democratic Republic of Kenya.

"The plunder that we have allowed the West to conduct in the DRC is a sin we must repent on, resolve and refuse to see repeated anywhere else in our region," said Lazarus Chakweera, the president of Malawi.

The Kinshasa Summit is hosting a dozen SADC Heads of State and will review progress in regional integration in line with SADC aspirations "which envision an industrialized, peaceful, inclusive, competitive, middle to a high-income region where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic well-being”.

"I would be active in implementing programs to develop infrastructure and services in the region that is directly linked to our main strategies to stimulate economic integration and eradicate poverty in the SADC region," said Félix Tshisekedi, President of DRC.

The Congolese Head of State is also the current president of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

The question of the Rwandan presence on Congolese soil will also be raised, knowing that it is Angola (in the name of the CIRGL and the African Union), also a member of SADC, which is leading part of the negotiation between Kinshasa and Kigali.