Sanctions on Zimbabwe: A form of economic invasion

In the context of domestic politics and international relations, national economic security refers to a country's capacity to implement its preferred policies to build the national economy in the manner desired.

Conquest of nations has historically made conquerors wealthy through pillage, access to new resources, and increased commerce by dominating the economy of conquered nations.

Multinational agreements and mutual interdependence characterise today's complicated international trade system.

Natural resource availability and capacity for production and distribution are critical under this system, prompting many experts to consider economic security to be as crucial as military strategy in terms of national security.

The end of the liberation war shifted attention from military threats to other things that may negatively affect the people of Zimbabwe.

High on the list of concerns is national economic security, the ability to protect or to advance economic interests in the face of circumstances that may threaten or block these interests.

Zimbabwe is an integral part of the world economy, doing business in world markets and influencing  and being influenced by the international financial environment, economic policies, and commercial and financial infrastructure.

Thus, enhancing international economic security enhances Zimbabwe's economic security and its physical security, because some situations can escalate to the point that they require a military response.

A strong military response to such a threat requires strong economic underpinnings, and economic instruments can serve as a non-military form of defence.

The impact of sanctions by the United States (ZIDERA) and European Union on Zimbabwe has been felt by ordinary people across urban, rural and diaspora communities of Zimbabwe.

These illegal and unwarranted sanctions were carefully crafted with the aim of making Zimbabwe a dysfunctional state.

There should be no argument that for the past two decades Zimbabweans have been suffering from the multi-faced effects of these sanctions across all sectors including agriculture, energy, health, security, water, education, mining, manufacturing, investments and banking.

In essence the sanctions have crippled each and every sector of the economy, thereby destroying the Zimbabwean dream to many.

These sanctions were crafted skilfully to exert a serious negative impact to the country and its citizenry over a long period of time.

From the George W. Bush administration to the Joe Biden presidency, sanctions have been consistent.

The various US presidents keep punishing the ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe.

We have seen the same ZIDERA law being modified and remodified time and again to exert more pressure and shut out all economic breathing space available to the country.

In other words, the US has invested its entire venom and evil architecture in ensuring that the lives of Zimbabweans become unbearable, desperate, destitute and worthless.

The mass media narrative of the US has over the years, been on overdrive, branding the country leadership as incapable while at the same time encouraging citizens to revolt, in essence triggering internal fissures, discontent, disharmony and uprising against the Government.

The US and Europe in general have a propensity of investing heavily in institutionally-packaged programmes of economic terror towards African and other countries that are rich in minerals, that are not complying to their demands, to loot their raw materials and other natural resources.

These targeted countries such as Zimbabwe have clearly rejected this structured economic superiority by the US and its allies to continue siphoning natural resources and raw materials laterally for free at the expense of localised beneficiation investment where only finished products are exported.

Zimbabwe's cause is to have economic freedom and have an absolute uncompromised decision making over its natural wealth and international economic dynamics.

Zimbabwe does not exist in a vacuum, the ZIDERA law of sanctions was wit fully designed to choke any economic function of Zimbabwe.

This has over the years, resulted in slow development of SADC countries as it hampered intra-regional block trade treaties.

Notably therefore, the nature of the sanctions and the design of their application is such that they squeeze the life out of the nations by putting embargoes across all markets (financial, supplier and clients), including all opportunities and all assistance that may come.

The US renews and upscale ZIDERA law each year following up on all new lifelines that the Zimbabwean Government may have innovatively crafted so that an addendum is affixed to the ZIDERA to ensure total collapse.

The cause of ZIDERA has nothing to do with the so-called human rights violations or lack of rule of law abuses narrative, but has everything to do with the vision by the Zimbabwean Government to conclude the purpose for which the first and second Chimurenga (war of liberation) was taken up over a century ago until 1980.

We as Zimbabweans are fully mindful that land is the biggest factor in any economic model, over and above the human capital, physical capital, infrastructure and the entrepreneurship.

Thus, without control of the land, a country has no control of its natural resources under the same land and has no place upon which its infrastructural and facilities development can take place.

Beneath the belly of the land, are minerals and water.

On the land is the platform for different forms of agriculture as well as additional water, it is also the only platform on which we erect infrastructure, provide human habitation and even as intangibly as it may be, above the land is the atmosphere which provides fresh clean unpolluted air that we breath.

Our plants survive on the land too.

The drive for Zimbabwe to free itself from import dependence and take up ownership of all factors and means of production resulted in the former colonialists and their kith and kin seeing a serious threat to  sources of raw materials, a threat to their market and a threat to their hold and control over the Zimbabwean Government, and African governments at large.

As Zimbabweans, we are humbled by the back-up from SADC and AU regional blocks that have come in hard and fast declaring their utmost displeasure, demanding the unconditional removal of sanctions.

The African Economic Intelligence has already established the trajectory that the cosmetic narratives of rule of law and human rights transgressions in Zimbabwe is actually a lame excuse to arm-twist the country to let go of her naturally God given wealth for either nothing or a few cobbles of silver.

The Americans and the Europeans have a strong appetite for invading countries by creating internal conflict, championing regime change and funding malcontents to destabilise innocent mineral rich countries.

The leadership of African countries has come out of age, realising that there is clear and present danger in the new USA strategy, that of using the sanctions and embargoes to effect regime change with the underlying ultra-motive to access the abundant natural resources.

The sanctions are as good a tool of war as is sending foot soldiers, in both cases the human life is threatened, and the citizens are the victims.

Sanctions are a human rights violation; they are a calculated strategy to invade economies and an advanced form of modern colonialism, they have no place in the free world.

Zimbabweans all over the world are humbled by the African Union and SADC's stance of declaring and observing the 25th of October of each year as a day of denouncing sanctions on Zimbabwe.

They have noted that Zimbabwe is not yet free; is in a protracted economic war, in perennially under attack, is suffocating, and that Zimbabwe is suffering global economic quarantine for claiming its freedom and heritage.

Zimbabwe has the right to live freely, and to participate equally, identify its own strategic partners, protect its own liberation achievements, craft a future for its children and future generations.

Thus, there should be no impediment to the developmental trajectory and governance models and philosophies by the Government of Zimbabwe for its people.

After all, it is the people of Zimbabwe that gave the current administration the constitutional authority to lead, govern and implement that which we agreed upon as a nation.

In essence, the Zimbabwean Government is executing its mandate based on the framework crafted from grassroots, from us the people, the Zimbabweans.

No man under the sun, other than ourselves as Zimbabweans and as Africans, knows our needs better than us.

We are aware of our surroundings, our potential, our strengths and most importantly the nature of the dangers around us.

We, as Zimbabweans, should stand resolute, convinced and firm against any form of sanctions, implied, implemented and contemplated. With or without sanctions, Zimbabwe remains ours!

Dr Norbert Hosho is the president and founder of Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Trust (ZAST), an educationist and trainer in economic empowerment and entrepreneurial leadership. He can be contacted on +263773115890 or email norbert.hosho@gmail.com or nhosho@zast.co.zw.