SADC Secretariat Records Management Policy 4.3 All official records of the SADC Secretariat are its inalienable property and will be kept in the custody of the Records Management Function or any other designated place approved by the Executive Secretary following consultations with the Director responsible for SADC Secretariat Records Management. 4.4 Official records, irrespective of format or medium, created, received, maintained by the SADC Secretariat in pursuit of its business functions and activities belong to the Secretariat and may not in any way be destroyed, tampered with, mutilated or removed from the Secretariat without due regard to the prescriptions of this Policy. 4.5 Each Business Unit of the Secretariat is responsible for the effective management of records in accordance to this Policy and the records management programme. 4.6 This Policy is aligned to the following Strategies and Policies: a) SADC Secretariat ICT Communication Strategy b) SADC Secretariat Records Management Procedures Manual. c) SADC Secretariat Records Retention and Disposition Schedules. d) SADC Secretariat Records Management Classification Scheme. e) And any other policies, regulations and standards that the Records Management Function may issue from time to time. 5. Record-keeping Process The SADC Secretariat creates, receives, and maintains records that are complete, authentic, and reliable. These records are of sufficient quality to support the legal, audit and business operations of the Secretariat. To support this, the following should be adhered to. 5.1 Records Creation and Capture a) All SADC business activities must be adequately documented through the creation and maintenance of records. b) The records must contain the necessary structural and contextual information necessary to document the functions of the Secretariat to which they relate. c) The records should be reliable and trusted as an accurate representation of the activity which led to their creation. 5.2 Records Classification ________________________________________________________________________ Page 3