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Speaker Jacob F. N. Mudenda is in Windhoek alongside fellow Speakers of Parliament Presiding Officers for the Inaugural Orientation and Executive Committee (EXCO) Meeting of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, demonstrating Zimbabwe’s unwavering commitment to regional parliamentary cooperation.
Yesterday, in a solemn tribute at Heroes’ Acre, Namibia’s official war memorial built to foster patriotic spirit, Speaker Mudenda joined other delegates in a moving wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, led by the President of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Hon. Advocate John Tokely. The delegation thereafter paid homage to the tombs of Namibia’s Founding President, H.E. Dr. Sam Nujoma, and that of the late President H.E. Dr. Hage G. Geingob.
Following the wreath-laying, EXCO Members paid a courtesy call on Hon. Dr. Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, newly elected Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia, reinforcing the bonds of friendship and Parliamentary collaboration within the region. Dr. Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, who made history as the first woman to be elected as Speaker of the Namibian Parliament on 21st March 2025, warmly received the delegation, highlighting the ascent of women leaders in SADC Parliaments. Immediately afterwards, EXCO delegates were taken on a tour of the National Assembly, led by the Host Speaker.
The EXCO delegates then visited the SADC PF Headquarters Building, a state-of-the-art facility generously donated by the Republic of Namibia, under a Host Agreement, a testament to Namibia’s enduring commitment to regional integration and Parliamentary development. This completed the morning programme. During the afternoon’s knowledge-sharing roundtable discussions on matters of national importance, Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, delivered a spirited statement on recent developments in Zimbabwe, highlighting the following:
“A hungry nation is an angry nation. A hungry SADC region is an angry region. A hungry African Continent is an angry Continent because of its failure to attain food sovereignty. Despite the ironic observation that Africa boasts 60 million hectares of arable land. It is in this context that Zimbabwe has propagated climate-smart agriculture through the nationally adopted Pfumvudza/ Intwasa agriculture programme.
“As a result, over 3 million farmers participated in the 2024-2025 agricultural season highly supported by the Presidential Agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertiliser as well as the intentional mechanization of agricultural production. Consequently, Zimbabwe’s maize production is anticipated to increase by 635,000 metric tonnes to 2.7 million metric tonnes 2024-2025 season. In tandem, Speaker Mudenda informed the SADC Speakers’ Colloquium that Zimbabwe’s wheat production is projected to attain 600.000 metric tonnes of wheat in the 2024- 2025 season, a record harvest in recent history following the disrupted wheat imports from Ukraine following the conflict in the wake of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. This accelerated agricultural production trajectory is expected to be enhanced by Zimbabwe’s construction of 10,600 water bodies for agricultural production.,” he said.
Speaker Mudenda also informed his fellow Speakers that Zimbabwe will be privileged to host the prestigious 57th Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary Forum at Elephant Hills Hotel, Victoria Falls City, from 31st May to 8th June 2025, under the theme “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Innovation in Enhancing Parliamentary Processes in the SADC Region: Opportunities and Challenges.” as well as hosting the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP15) from 23rd to 31st July 2025 in Victoria Falls City.
Advocate Mudenda indicated that hosting these major events demonstrates the Second Republic’s leadership which is capable of canvassing for hosting regional and international conferences that embrace the application of digital technologies in governance as well as championing justiciable climate action and justice.
Speaker Mudenda also informed his colleagues that the quest for democracy through Parliamentary processes in Zimbabwe has been destabilized by leadership wrangles in the opposition party which was an affront to the possible destabilisation of a solid Committee System. However, it appears that now, the current leadership wrangles have been settled by the Courts which it is believed, will create a stable opposition party in Parliament. A strong opposition Party is necessary for strengthening the Parliamentary standing of the Ruling Party to ironically keep it in power!!!
Advocate Mudenda’s peers were also informed that the Zimbabwe Parliament recently successfully launched the Youth Parliament Model in the mould of the Kenyan example, wherein 289 youths from Zimbabwe’s ten Provinces participated as they were introduced practically to Parliamentary practices hoping that such an experience for them would motivate the young generation to participate actively in Zimbabwe’s political polity.
In conclusion, Speaker Mudenda urged fellow Speakers to critically examine the proposed Protocol for the Transformation of the SADC PF into a Regional Parliament before it is signed at the upcoming August SADC Summit. He also supported the Parliament of Botswana and Lesotho in their endeavour to constitutionally enhance the architecture of their Parliaments vis-a–vis-in respect of accentuating the doctrine of Separation of Powers among the Three Arms of State in their respective countries.
Ultimately, Speaker Mudenda as a Member of the SADC PF Legal Sub- Committee encouraged the First Deputy Speaker of the DRC Parliament to persuade his Parliament to pay up the outstanding subscriptions to the Forum which had gone beyond the one-year permissible lapse in violation of Article 9 of the SADC PF Constitution. This encouragement was made in the spirit of inclusivity so that no Member of the SADC PF suffers unwarranted suspension.”
The EXCO is expected to reconvene on Tuesday, 29th April 2025, for further deliberations, ahead of participation in celebrations marking Zimbabwe’s Independence.
By anchoring the Executive Committee’s orientation in constitutional best practices and fostering robust institutional arrangements, the SADC PF Secretariat has laid a firm foundation for the Executive Committee to effectively deliver on its mandate, as enshrined in the Forum’s Constitution, up to 2026.
