Jabulani Sibanda: 'We remain under sanctions as a country'

WAR veterans' leader Jabulani Sibanda has said his removal from the European Union (EU) sanctions list this week was a non-event as long as President Robert Mugabe remained banned from travelling to Europe.

The EU this week lifted travel bans on Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) commander General Constantine Chiwenga, army commander Lieutenant-General Phillip Valerio Sibanda, air force commander Air Marshal Perrance Shiri and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) director-general retired Brigadier-General Happyton Bonyongwe.

Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) boss retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi and Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa, among others, were also removed from the sanctions list.

However, Mugabe and his wife Grace remained banned from travelling and would have their assets frozen for alleged human rights violations.

Sibanda told Southern Eye in an interview on Tuesday that the whole of Zimbabwe, including himself, remained under sanctions because the face of the country could not engage development agencies and international institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for purposes of development.

"That is where we have a problem. We do not understand what the EU's agenda is here," he said.

"They put me on sanctions when I do not run a company or business. How were sanctions going to work on me when I have not committed any crime? The sanctions are against Zimbabwe.

"If you put the leader of a nation under sanctions, it means that he cannot travel to seek assistance for the country and assist others.

"Even international organisations and institutions like the IMF will not approve funds for the country because their members are comprised of those countries hostile to Zimbabwe."

Sibanda said his removal from the sanctions list and that of a few other officials was just a cover up on the part of EU.

"We remain under sanctions as a country. Even the opposition and your newspaper are under sanctions," he said.

"We are suffering for correcting colonial wrongs by redistributing land. They are confused and want to spread the confusion to us.

"I do not see any difference. I hope the EU would soon realise that these sanctions are illegal and remove them against our leader and country."

He said the EU missed a great opportunity to work with all African leaders by shutting out Zimbabwe.

"As you know President Mugabe was recently elected African Union deputy chairperson because he is viewed as a luminary who reflects the views and aspirations of all the countries on the continent," Sibanda said.

"They are losing out in working with African countries if they do not remove these illegal sanctions that have resulted in the suffering of 13 million Zimbabweans."