Masisi not attending Maputo summit due to Covid-19 scare

Botswana leader Mokgweetsi Masisi is in self quarantine following detection of Covid-19 among his staff and will not attend a regional summit in the Mozambican capital Maputo.

RUSTENBURG, April 29 (ANA) – Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi will not attend a Southern African Development Community (SADC) extraordinary summit in the Mozambican capital Maputo on Thursday as he is under quarantine following the detection of Covid-19 among his staff, his office said.

“His Excellency’s self quarantine is out of abundance of caution while more information is being gathered to ascertain the level of risk which will guide additional precautions and investigation in relation to this exposure,” Masisi’s spokesman Batlhalefi Leagajang said in a statement.

Vice President Slumber Tsogwane will lead Botswana’s delegation to the summit, which is expected to receive a report from a team deployed to assess the security crisis in Mozambique. Botswana currently chairs the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.

On April 8, regional heads of state resolved to deploy a team to probe the threat that Islamist militants pose to Mozambique and determine how to respond to their insurgency.

Islamic State-backed terrorists launched an attack on the town of Palma in the northern province of Cabo Delgado on March 24, killing at least 12 people including a South African and a Zimbabwean. Over 100,000 people fled the area for safety.

In a previous interview with Radio Botswana, Masisi said the terrorist attacks in northern Mozambique could not be allowed to continue without a proportionate regional response.

He said they were an affront to peace and security not only in Mozambique but the entire SADC region and the international community and could spill over and lead to instability in southern Africa if left unattended.

– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa