The Pan Afrikanist Watchman

The SADC Parliamentary Forum Secretary-General Ms. Boemo Sekgoma has confirmed that her organisation is cognisant that the Covid19 pandemic is causing worldwide fears and tensions, especially with the upsurge of new virus variants.

However, she insists that while public health remains a priority, the Forum considers that there is a need to rely at all times on verified scientific and empirical data, such as those shared by the World Health Organisation (WHO), before imposing travel bans that may seem unjust or harsh for some countries.

Sekgoma was reacting to the arbitrary and seemingly discriminatory travel restrictions imposed on South Africa, Botswana and other southern African countries following the confirmation of a new Covid-19 variant known as Omicron or B 1.1.529, which is said to be highly mutative and easily transmissible in Botswana and South Africa.

Certainly the travel bans pose grave repercussions for Africa, where the majority of citizens have still not been vaccinated. And compounding the situation is that vaccines are bought from outside the continent.

In fact Botswana Health and Wellness minister Dr. Edwin Dikoloti buttressed this fear Sunday evening in a joint press conference with ministers Eric Molale and Dr. Lemogang Kwape when he pointed out that Botswana’s consignment of 500, 000 vaccines purchased through bilateral means, and expected to arrive this week, was now in jeopardy since flights have been grounded.

For her part, the SADC PF leader highlighted that the need for international cooperation to share information buttresses the recent action of the SADC Group at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held from the 26^th-30^th November 2021 in Madrid, Spain, which called for greater equality in the procurement and distribution of Covid19 vaccines.

She said that this echoes the reflection made that nobody is safe until everybody is safe from Covid19. Indeed, if vaccine equality was in place, the virus may have been long overwhelmed instead of mutating into more threatening variants in some countries.

Asked if SADC has consulted with countries that were quick to install the bans and what was discussed, Sekgoma responded:

“The IPU General Debate unanimously debated this issue as an emergency Item, where all Parliaments of the world gathered. There is no doubt that policymakers, officials, as well as Parliamentarians from the SADC region are engaging counterparts to react to the travel ban and to find solutions for safe travel”.

She said that it is imperative that remedial measures be found, especially bearing in mind the human rights of travelers who are stalled in foreign destinations pending the re-opening of the flight routes back home.

“Perhaps the most important question currently is which vaccine would respond best to the new variants, and if this information is known, vaccine deployment strategies must be engaged to respond accordingly.

As for the economic consequence of the bans be on the respective economies in the region, Sekgoma reiterated that travel bans are never favourable to the economy, whether it is the economy of the imposing country or the one of the affected country.

Travel bans are also devastating to airline companies who are struggling to stay afloat and to rebuild after almost two (2) years of travel slowdown.

“It is thus important for bans to be imposed only based on verified and reliable information that have been preferably endorsed by the WHO”, Sekgoma said.