Man is a creature of reason and it is therefore most disconcerting when he starts to behave like one of the other animals, especially when the individual is in a position of power and authority.
SADC leaders have it in their heads that the sanctions imposed on a select few Zanu PF leaders and companies are the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown. There is a mountain of evidence to show that rampant corruption, gross mismanagement and rank lawlessness which have all contributed to make Zimbabwe a pariah state are the root causes.
41 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship has allowed corruption, mismanagement and lawlessness to grow and spread like cancer; the economy is in total ruins and the political system in paralysis - both the ruling party and opposition are corrupt and incompetent.
Zimbabwe is stuck in this economic and political mess because the nation has been stuck with this corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF regime for 41 years and counting. Zanu PF has rigged election to secure its stay in power. The solution to ending the country’s economic and political crisis is for the country to implement the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections.
Zanu PF does not want corruption, mismanagement and lawlessness; the root causes of the country’s economic, political and social problems; much less the crying need for democratic reform discussed. And so the party have manufactured various narratives and scapegoats to blame for the country’s problems. The sanctions imposed by the West have become a God send scapegoat for the regime.
SADC leaders have all bought in the Zanu PF lie that sanctions is the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic problems, lift the sanctions and Zimbabwe and the region will enjoy peace and economic prosperity. And so SADC leaders have endorsed today 25 October as the Anti-Sanctions Day and have joined Zimbabwe in the call for the lifting of the sanctions.
"Today we arise and collectively say enough is enough. The illegal sanctions are an albatross to the development, well-being and prosperity of the people of Zimbabwe. We call on the US to immediately and conditionally remove the sanctions for the sake of our children." - President Mnangagwa.
"For SADC as a region, the call for the unconditional removal of sanctions assumes even greater importance. It is not just a solidarity call in support of Zimbabwe, but also a clarion call for justice, fairness and full enjoyment of human rights. The sanctions are no longer relevant, and are detrimental to the socio-economic development and self-determination of Zimbabweans." - President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique, at the Anti-Sanctions Solidarity Day's first anniversary in October 2020.
"We must show that we are really standing with our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe. A problem for any nation in SADC is a problem for all of us, the success of any nation in SADC is also our success." - Annie Kumwenda, outgoing Malawian ambassador to Zimbabwe.
There is a double irony here, firstly SADC leaders themselves clearly accept the need for democratic reforms in Zimbabwe as the solution to the country economic and political crisis because they proscribed the raft of democratic reforms following the blatant cheating and wanton violence of the 2008 Zimbabwe elections. And when it was clear that Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had failed to implement even one reform at the end of the GNU in 2013; they wanted the elections postponed until the reforms were implemented.
Second, all these SADC leaders would have unanimously approved the UN sanctions imposed on the White Colonial regime of Ian Smith because they accepted the sanctions as an effective measure to push for democratic change, regardless of the economic hardship the brought on the ordinary people. There is political oppression in Zimbabwe today, or be it the oppressor are now blacks and not the whites, and so why are the SADC leaders unanimously against the sanction this time!
“We know when we understand Almighty God is a living man
You can fool some people sometimes
But you can’t fool all the people all the
So now we see the light!”
Bob Marley Get up stand up.
The growing majority of ordinary Zimbabweans have certainly seen the light; they want the sanctions to remain and the fight for free, fair and credible elections intensified.
Of course, it is disappointing that SADC leaders have decided to close their eyes to the tragic reality happening in Zimbabwe and join Zanu PF thugs in this anti-sanctions wild goose chase. I have nothing but contempt for the SADC leaders for in joining Zanu PF in this anti-sanctions chorus they have reduced themselves to nothing but hauling monkeys!
It is bd enough to have one corrupt and incompetent leaders but it is hell-on-earth to have one corrupt and incompetent leader after another in 41 years and counting! There is no denying Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the nation has had the great misfortune of having these Zanu PF buffoon in power for the last 41 years.
ReplyDeleteThings should have changed if only Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had the common sense to implement the democratic reforms when they had the golden opportunity to do so.
How is it possible that Mnangagwa was able to talk SADC leaders to accept the nonsense of sanctions being the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is a great mystery. Do these national leaders have any advisors at all! What is the point of paying these advisors if they are this corrupt and incompetent they cannot even see the trees from the woods on the clear cut case of corruption is the root cause of Zimbabwe’s mess.
SADC leaders will certainly look like howler monkeys if the UN Special rapporteur’s report should confirm corruption and mismanagement are the root causes of Zimbabwe’s economic troubles - not sanctions!
SADC citizens themselves must take the business of electing competent leaders with the urgency and seriousness the matter demands. It is no surprise the region has latched from one crisis to the next, blundered from pillar to post; what else, if you have howler monkeys for leaders!
"Remove the sanctions!" Yeah right!
▪️The sanctions are affecting us as Zimbabwe socially, politically and economically.
ReplyDelete▪️As NCA party, an opposition in Zimbabwe, we believe that Zanu pf is using sanctions to justify its incompetence and hold to political power.
▪️We encourage any other mechanism to deal with the problems affecting Zimbabwe and sanctions are not part of such a solution.
▪️As NCA Party we encourage all Zimbabweans to speak with one voice in denouncing the sanctions as well as calling for their unconditional removal.
NCA is clearly a party of confused individuals given to contradicting themselves. If sanctions are affecting us as Zimbabwe socially, politically and economically then Zanu PF cannot be using sanctions to justify its incompetence!
The sanctions were imposed on Zanu PF to pressure the regime to stop its human right abuses including the denying of the people their right to free, fair and credible elections. Mnangagwa have made it clear that the condition for joining his POLAD was endorsing the 2018 elections were free and fair and he is the legitimate president. NCA joined POLAD and, per se, endorsed the elections were free and fair.
It is therefore logical for NCA to call for unconditional lifting of the sanction since the party believes the elections were free and fair but should not be so presumptuous as to dictate to the rest of us still fighting for free and fair elections to do the same!
Zanu PF is really struggling to give a rational reason why the region of denying 3 million plus Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote. This is already raising the doubts of the elections being free, fair and credible. How can a election process in which 3 out of 8 potential voters are denied the vote be a free and legal election?
ReplyDeleteTHE Zanu-PF Manicaland youth league chapter says opposition leader Nelson Chamisa and his deputy Tendai Biti must face treason charges for lobbying sanctions against Zimbabwe.
ReplyDeleteThe calls were made Mutare district coordinating committee (DCC) secretary for youth affairs Danmore Mambondiyani during the anti-sanctions day commemorations which were held at Meikles Park in the border city.
Zanu PF thugs are back to their favourite tactic of sabre-rattling when they are losing the narrative. Zanu PF has dismissed MDC leaders as puppets of the West and now we are being told that the puppets are controlling the puppeteers!
The West are completely capable of formulating their own foreign policies with or without the input of outsiders. Those blaming MDC leaders for the sanctions must be dismissed with the utter contempt they rightly deserve. The sabre-rattling is meant to intimidate the people into silence and this must be condemned in no uncertain terms.
@ Mai Ruru Newsday
ReplyDeleteTHE situation in which Zimbabwe finds itself is very bad to say the least, as this reminds the citizens of the 2008 hyper-inflationary era.
Already signs of hyperinflation and disorder are clearly visible. It now demands a cool head and humility, especially on the part of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has everything to lose if he fails to deliver on the promises he made on assumption of office.
He could have made the situation a lot better had he been sincere in his engagement and re-engagement efforts, but he has failed Zimbabweans.
The idea that Mnangagwa can have his cake and eat it too is a nonsense; not even Mnangagwa is falling for it.
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who have retained power by rigging the elections. As long as the country remains a pariah state, there will be no meaningful economic recover. None!
So any engagement with MDC and/or the international community must deliver the democratic reforms to deliver free and fair elections and end the pariah state. Mnangagwa is a buffoon, the nation would not be in this mess if he and his Zanu PF cronies were anything else, but he is not that stupid not to realise that his hold on power will go if he implemented the reforms.
What Mnangagwa and his cronies must know is that the pariah state has destroyed the nation’s economy, basic services such as health care and education have collapsed, 49% of the population now live in abject poverty, etc. This is morally, socially, economically and politically unacceptable and unsustainable.
Zanu PF must accept peaceful change or there will be violence to force the change. All Zanu PF has done so far by rigging elections is frustrate the chance for peaceful change delaying change by kicking the can down the street. The regime is now in a cul-de-sac and time for peaceful change is fast running out!
Zanu PF must know that the bottled up anger and frustration in the populous will break out one of these fine days and the ensuing tsunami will sweep the regime aside and God only knows what other the damage, death and destruction it will leave in its wake. Mnangagwa and company must know that they will be held to account for it all since this could have been avoided was it not for their stubbornness.
@ Muama Fidel Hosini
ReplyDelete“If MDC economic experts like Biti under non violent leadership of Chamisa could steer economic development to right direction within some months and in shot time frame of 5 years during 2008-2013, imagine what beautiful wonders they can do to our economy suppose elections are conducted under free, fair and in a democratic manner in which MDC will inevitably become outright winner.”
The 2013 and 2018 elections were not free, fair and credible precisely because MDC leaders failed to implement the democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging elections during the 2008 to 2013 GNU.
It is shocking that even now with the benefit of hindsight you still do not understand the primary purpose of the GNU was to implement reforms. MDC leaders sold-out by failing to implement even one token reform in five years of the GNU.
Worse still, by participating - out of greed - in these flawed and illegal elections MDC are only giving vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuating the dictatorship. Only someone who is naive and gullible would consider MDC leaders as suitable leaders!
@ Arthur Mntungwa
ReplyDelete“Take off your ZANU NEHANDA SHONA GUKURAHUNDI knee on the Mthwakazi Matebeleland neck; the "Mwanawekumusha Shona nepotism", disguised as "the freedom of movement of Zimbabweans, and equality as citizens in settling anywhere, doing business anywhere, and working anywhere in the country"; that has enslaved our Mthwakazi Matebeleland people for the past 41 years, yet it has only favoured one section of the population, the Shona. Matebeleland started border jumping in the 1980s, because of Gukurahundi. Long before the Shona joined them after 2000 elections.”
Zimbabwe is in a serious economic and political mess and no section of the nation has been spared. You are hell-bent of spreading the false narrative that section of Zimbabwe society, other than the few Zanu PF ruling elite, have prospered for your selfish political gain. Whilst others are fighting to implement the democratic reforms to create a just and prosperous nation you are busy sowing seeds of tribal/regional conflict based on falsehoods!
You are no different from Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies, they sowed the seed of the inter-party rivalry resulting in the Gukurahundi massacre for the sake of justifying the imposition of the one-party dictatorship. You are now using Gukurahundi to justify your own tribal/ regional conflict! Your sabre-rattling escapades is clear for all to see.
"Blaming sanctions is a convenient scapegoat to distract the public from the real reasons behind Zimbabwe's economic challenges - corruption, economic mismanagement, and failure to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law," the US said in a statement yesterday.
ReplyDelete"Billions of dollars have been lost due to decades of corruption and harmful economic policies which have culminated in the current economic crisis. Zimbabwe has had both prosperous and difficult years during the life of the targeted sanction program. Implementation of economic and political reforms is the key to improving Zimbabwe's trajectory."
The embassy said the Zimbabwean government as a whole was not subject to US sanctions, but only 83 individuals and 37 companies in a country of over 15 million were targeted.
"The US government can lift sanctions under various circumstances, for example, when sanctioned individuals or entities stop engaging in the behaviour that landed them on the sanctions list in the first place. The Zimbabwe sanctions programme only targets those who engage in corruption, violate human rights, and undermine democratic processes.
"UK sanctions are asset freezes and travel bans on five Zimbabwean individuals for corruption and rights abuses. They don't stop trade. Let's get this straight: the UK imposed asset freezes and a UK travel ban earlier this year on five individuals for corruption and serious human rights abuses. The UK has no economic sanctions on Zimbabwe #itsnotsanctions," the British embassy tweeted.
"The facts: trade between the UK and Zimbabwe was US$244 million last year, with Zim exports to the UK reaching US$55 million. The UK and Zimbabwe have a bilateral trade deal which gives Zimbabwe duty and quota-free access to UK markets," it said.
The UN special rapporteur in the country to investigate the ill-effect of the West imposed sanctions on the ordinary Zimbabwean must address two important issues:
1) Is sanctions the main cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown or there are other causes such as corruption and mismanagement and the regime is only using sanctions as a scapegoat.
2) The regime has just confirmed that it will deny 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote until the sanction imposed by the West on the regime are lifted. This is surely a serious human rights violation imposed by the regime on its own people under the feeble pretext of punishing the West. What has the ordinary Zimbabweans got to do with the sanction that they should be punished for what the West has done?
@ Blessing Mugwagwa
ReplyDelete‘'The embassy said the Zimbabwean government as a whole was not subject to US sanctions, but only 83 individuals and 37 companies in a country of over 15 million were targeted''. WHAT IF ONLY 5 COMPANIES ARE HOLDING THE LIVES OF THE 15 MILLION ,esp financial institutions ? SURELY THE SANCTIONS affects the ordinary people DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY WITH HUGE IMPACT ON LIVELIHOOD, CAUSING UNEMPLOYMENT, UNAVAILABILITY OF SOCIAL BASIC SERVICES AND WELFARE bcz of lack of investment and financial resources for all other companies and people….
The sanctions are themselves AN INSULT TO RULE OF LAW as THEY VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF United Nations...USA AND UK HAVE THEIR OWN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES,CORRUPTION ISSUES AND BAD DECISIONS but who could punish them like what they are doing to Zim and this means BULLYISM IS RULING NOT ''LAW''.
THE SANCTIONS ARE SAID TO BE TARGETING SOME ENTITIES ON A LISTS BUT IN REAL LIFE, THOSE WHO ARE NOT ON THE LIST ARE FACING RESTRICTIONS AS IF THEY ARE ON THE LIST.
THE US SHOULD STOP BLAMING GOVT SAYING THEIR CORRUPTION,BAD DECISIONS,MISMANAGEMENT HAS CAUSED ECONOMIC FAILURES BECAUSE THEIR SANCTIONS'' ARE PART OF OUR PROBLEMS- .''IN FACT THE SANCTIONS ALSO accelerate corruption as some society's power holding people will grab the few resources left meant for the public after sanctions.
They say the sanctions are meant to be not permanent but it is now more than 23 years them in place and destroying and are continued to be renewed. THE DEMANDS FOR THEIR REMOVAL ARE SO WEIRD AS THEY ARE BASED ON SATISFYING '''USA'S FOREIGN POLICY AND INTERESTS''..one of DEMANDS IS reversal of the LAND REFORM PROGRAMME, a demand which 'violates ZIMBABWE'S OWN CONSTITUTION''...they are not for MEARNT ZIMBABWEANS interests and policy.
THE OFFICIALS WHO IMPOSED THESE SANCTIONS ARE PEOPLE ELECTED BY UNITED STATES CITIZENS...NOT ZIMBABWEANS.....
ITS SO SAD TO SEE AN ZIMBABWEAN SUPPORTING THIS BARBARIC ACT AGAINST HIS/HER OWN COUNTRY....SO SAD.!!!!!
You are right that sanctions even if they were laser focused on the target individual would have some effect on the general populous.
What you have failed to appreciate here is that we do have a regime that has ridden roughshod over the ordinary people denying them their basic freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life. Zanu PF has murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans to establish and retain its de facto one party dictatorship.
The question then arises whether Zanu PF should be allowed to continue denying the people their freedoms and rights uncensored for fear punishing the regime will have direct or indirect ramifications on the ordinary people?
Indeed, Zanu PF has just announced the regime will deny 3 million plus Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote “until the sanctions are lifted!” This is a regime that is holding its own people hostage. The truth is Zanu PF has never ever held free, fair and credible elections ever since the country’s independence in 1980. And so the denial of the diaspora vote is nothing new!
The nation faced the same dilemma whether to impose the UN sanctions on the white colonial regime of Ian Smith to pressure it to change its racial oppression of the blacks in then Rhodesia regardless the sanctions will have a negative effect on the blacks too. Most blacks then demanded the sanction because they also accepted the reality the colonial oppression would not end without them having to pay a price.
The country is once again being called upon to make a similar choice; censor the Zanu PF regime for the purpose of ending the dictatorship. Only a hypocrite would condemn censoring Zanu PF when they censored Ian Smith for the same crime yesteryear!
One of the central demands for lifting the sanctions is that Zimbabwe implement the democratic reforms to ensure free and fair elections; none of these MPs want that! If Zimbabwe elections were free, fair and credible; none of these MPs would be in parliament today and they know it.
ReplyDeleteZanu-PF Chief Whip Pupurai Togarepi read the solidarity speech flanked by his opposition counterpart, Ms Paurina Mpariwa and other legislators.
"The 25th of October was declared by Sadc as a day for the region to show solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe and to call for the unconditional removal of the illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the US and its western allies.
"With this in mind, the Members of Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe gathered here in Victoria Falls for the 2022 national pre-budget seminar to add our voice to this just cause. We reiterate the call for the immediate unconditional removal of the illegal economic embargo imposed on our country," said Togarepi.
Of course, they would say that; all they care about is that the dictatorship remains and so too their privileged lifestyles, as the beneficiaries of the rigged elections, etc.
The economic and political situation in Zimbabwe is a lot worse than that under the white colonial rule of Ian Smith. If wide ranging UN sanctions were justified then they are more than justified now! Oppression is oppression just as suffering is suffering; the fact that this is black on black oppression does not make the suffering any more tolerable!