By Correspondent
Zimbabwe will host the SADC Summit which is expected to run from August 17 to 18.
President Mnangagwa will also assume the Chairmanship position when Zimbabwe takes over leadership of the regional body for a year.
Presently, Zimbabwe is vice-chair of the regional bloc.
The event is a massive logistical nightmare and potentially a festering hub of corruption.
The numbers involved in various acquisitions such as vehicles and other related goods and services are huge.
11 (Eleven)
Minimum number of vehicles required per each Head of State and Government.
SADC has 16 heads of State:
Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi andMauritius.
The others are Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
That means 176 vehicles.
200 (Two Hudrend)
About 200 protocol officers and drivers will be required to handle and host the visiting delegation.
3 (Three)
SADC requires three vehicles for the head of delegation.
2 (Two)
There should be provided 2 vehicles for the SADC executive secretary.
The Executive Secretary of SADC is Mr Elias M. Magosi.
He is the seventh Executive Secretary of SADC and assumed his position on 1st September 2021.
This followed his appointment at the 41st SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government in August 2021.
3 (Three)
There should be three vehicles for the SADC deputy executive secretaries.
SADC has two Executive Secretaries who are Dr Judith Kateera who is from Zimbabwe.
The other is Ms. Angele Makombo N’tumba, Deputy Executive Secretary: Regional Integration.
She is from DRC.
3 (Three)
SADC has a stipulation for three minibuses plus two sedans for the SADC secretariat personnel.
Thus the provision of vehicles to Heads of State and and their delegations, is usually more than 300 vehicles.
Obviously the government fleet cannot accommodate that number.
Therefore, governments usually need to approach the private sector for more vehicles.
Challenges and Opportunities
To highlight how the summit can be a keg of corruption previous hosts have struggled in the aftermath.
In 2021 Malawi hosted the 41st SADC Summit in Lilongwe and incurred a bill of over K$4 billion (US$2,3 million).
It purchased ten (10) VVIP and ten (10) VIP vehicles for the summit.
The government struggled to provide a financial breakdown of its budget expenditure after the summit with allegations of corruption swirling.
The same happened with Eswatini (Swaziland) when it hosted the same summit in August 2016.
Despite government announcements that it had allocated a budget of US$1 million there was much disbelief.
The Eswatini government was accused of hiding the actual figures under a web of profligacy and corruption.
Back here the government is playing the same tune.
Information Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana says the summit has more benefits than costs.
“The simple answer is that there are broader output values associated with hosting this summit in Harare, particularly in Mt Hampden.
“This kind of event generates infrastructural, economic, business, professional, academic and community benefits for the host country.
“(This is) especially at a virgin venue like the New City in Mt Hampden.
Mangwana says “the true value lies not in the fleeting glory but in the enduring legacies that shape the country’s future.
“Mt Hampden is going to tell the story.
We await to see.
