The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has demanded the immediate release of political prisoners in Madagascar and an end to the arrest of opposition leaders and members of Generation Z (Gen-Z) as regional leaders push for a return to constitutional rule.

An extraordinary virtual summit of SADC Heads of State and Government, chaired by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, further backed measures to support Madagascar's political transition through dialogue and inclusive reforms.

The SADC leaders want these reform processes communicated in national languages to encourage broad public participation and national acceptance.

The summit urged the Malagasy government under the leadership of Colonel Michael Randrianirina to implement the reforms in a transparent and time-bound manner.

SADC maintains that the transition must restore constitutional order and pave the way for a democratically elected government without delaying the will of the Malagasy people.

The extraordinary summit follows the 2025 uprising triggered by the rising cost of living and prolonged power outages, which ended with the military taking control of government.

The meeting also considered findings from SADC fact-finding and diplomatic missions led by former Malawian President Joyce Banda, with support from the SADC Mediation Reference Group and former SADC Special Envoy to Madagascar, former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano. 

The missions consulted a broad range of stakeholders to assess Madagascar's political and security situation before presenting their findings to regional leaders.

Report: Blanche Goreses