'Sanctions not justifiable under New Dispensation'

WESTERN imposed sanctions must be removed unconditionally as the New Dispensation under President Mnangagwa has turned a corner through engagement and re-engagement initiatives, Zanu-PF Secretary for External Affairs Simbarashe Mumbengegwi has said.

Speaking at the anti-sanction symposium organised by Zanu-PF Chitepo School of Ideology in Harare in commemoration of the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day that was attended by distinguished scholars and academics, Mumbengegwi said Zimbabwe stands ready to work and cooperate with all nations.

"In August 2019, the Heads of State and Government of SADC declared this day a day of solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe in the fight against the illegal sanctions, which have been imposed on us by the Western powers. This is a clear success story of President Mnangagwa of policy on engagement and re-engagement because before the coming in of the Second Republic the issue of sanctions against Zimbabwe was by and large a Zimbabwean issue but President Mnangagwa has been able to elevate the issue of these illegal sanctions beyond our borders in our region, in SADC, in our region in Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in our region in the African Union and indeed further abroad,".

Yesterday SADC member states commemorated the annual Anti-Sanctions Day, which was proclaimed by SADC Heads of State and Government in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania in August 2019.

Mumbengegwi said under President Mnangagwa the country has embarked on an economic renaissance programme, coupled with a diplomatic offensive which has seen it engaging with erstwhile foes while consolidating existing relationships with friendly nations.

"The move is paying dividends as evidenced by the remarkable progress in repairing relations with previously hostile nations. As we speak, the special rapporteur on the negative effect of unilateral cohesive measures is in Zimbabwe on a fact finding mission. We are more than confident that she would find the facts and the facts will speak for themselves and the facts will clearly point out that these sanctions are extremely harmful not to a few individuals but to the most vulnerable among the Zimbabwean population and therefore must be lifted unconditionally and without delay because there is no basis what so ever for sanctioning Zimbabwe,"

He said the activities, which are being undertaken in Zimbabwe and through the SADC region speak loud and clear.

"As a party that brought independence and democracy through a protracted liberation armed struggle, we believe in dialogue as an essential feature of democracy. It was Zanu-PF that led the people of Zimbabwe in a difficult protracted armed liberation struggle that led to victory and independence in April 1980," he said.

Mumbengegwi said those who have imposed sanctions would want the world to believe that they are targeted at a few individuals and a few companies and therefore harmless and of no consequence.

 "This is the highest level of hypocrisy and dishonesty. Yes, the sanctions are targeted, not on a few but on the vast majority of the vulnerable population. They are targeted at every aspect of the socio-economic existence of the Zimbabwean state. They are targeted to remove the democratically elected Government of Zimbabwe and replace it with a western controlled puppet state," said Mumbengegwi.

Studies has revealed that every aspect of life in Zimbabwe has been negatively affected by the illegal unilateral coercive measures imposed on Zimbabwe by the western powers at the instigation of the United Kingdom. As a consequence of the sanctions, many institutions and multi-Lateral organisations moved their operations out of Zimbabwe, since the enactment of ZIDERA in 2001. This has imposed disproportionate harm on heroic people of Zimbabwe.

Following unrelenting pressure from the West, Zimbabwe was forced to terminate its membership in the Commonwealth. In addition, the IMF and the World Bank, also joined Western countries, and suspended all disbursements to Zimbabwe.

Most of these effects have manifested themselves in shortage of foreign currency, resulting in the country accumulating external payment arrears and failing to import critical supplies.

Speaking at the same occasion, organiser of the event, Chitepo School of Ideology principal, Munyaradzi Machacha, said the sanctions are hurting Zimbabweans regardless of status.

"We have to educate our people so that they understand what were the reasons or the motives behind the imposition of sanctions. The Western propaganda has been that Zimbabwe has no respect for law of property rights, for democracy and so forth but the real motive is that Africa is a target of the West. We are the only continent left with abundant mineral resources, land water and the favourable climatic conditions," said Machacha.