COMESA has handed over the chairmanship of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force to the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

This happened during a Tripartite Task Force meeting held at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya on 17 May 2012 where the three tripartite pillars were discussed in readiness for presentation at a meeting to be held in Mauritius in June 2012.

Speaking after taking over the chairmanship, SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Thomaz Salomᾶu said there is no option for failure in the tripartite.

He called on all the RECs to work together especially at this time of implementation of one of the most difficult programmes which deals with trade issues.

He urged all the RECs to embrace the spirit of consultation in order to build trust, confidence and professionalism.

The outgoing Chairperson for the Tripartite, Mr Sindiso Ngwenya called on the Member States to work together in order to achieve the vision of the tripartite as enshrined in the treaty. He said that all cross cutting issues in the tripartite programme should be dealt with holistically as this will result in coherence, consistency, and will produce results.

He said that during his tenure as chairperson, he found it easy to work and steer the tripartite forward because of the co-operation he received from all the regional economic blocks.

Mr Ngwenya further urged the three RECs to design and implement programmes which are not parallel to each other to avoid duplication of efforts and resources.

Dim lights Download Embed Embed this video on your site