GOVERNMENT has criticised the placement on sanctions of
Zimbabwe’s Ambassador-designate to Tanzania, Anselem Sanyatwe, and his wife Ms
Chido Machona, by the United States on allegations that the former violated
human rights.
Ambassador Sanyatwe is a former Commander of the
Presidential Guard.
The US seeks to apportion blame on Government security
forces for the death of six people during opposition-instigated violence on
August 1 last year, which was orchestrated to delegitimise the outcome of the
harmonised elections which President Mnangagwa and the ruling Zanu-PF party won
favourably.
The polls had won lots of praise from observer missions and
other stakeholders for their peaceful and orderly conduct before opposition
MDC-Alliance supporters unleashed mayhem following threats by the party’s
leader, Mr Nelson Chamisa, and others that they would not accept defeat.
However, President Mnangagwa instituted an international
panel of experts to inquire into the incident and has since been implementing
its recommendations, including reform, retraining and upskilling of the police
service, the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
Government said while it was pursuing a policy of
re-engagement and rapprochement with some members of the international
community, this should not be construed as appeasement.
“The Motlanthe Commission worked in full of view of the
public and had its hearings televised and run on different live platforms as
the State showed it had nothing to hide. No one was made immune to its
subpoena,” Mr Nick Mangwana, the Secretary for Information, Publicity and
Broadcasting Services, noted in a statement last night.
“When the report of the Commission came out, President
Mnangagwa made it public and constituted a Cabinet Committee on Reform to see
through the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission as well as
other reforms such as Election Observers Missions’ reports,” reads the
statement.
Government says this was done in the interest of
transparency and justice. The process of the hearings at the Commission had an
important role as a truth-telling exercise.
“It is no doubt that President Mnangagwa marshalled the
country through this tragic but fleeting phase, with long-term benefits of
peace that no one today can deny.
“We, therefore, take serious umbrage at the posturing of
some foreign powers who have taken it upon themselves to invoke actions that
are clearly out of sync with the spirit and letter of the Commission whose work
was public and credible,” Mr Mangwana said in reference to the US.
“These powers have arrogated themselves power beyond our
processes and in this context a Zimbabwean diplomat and his family has been
placed under sanctions for ostensibly violating human rights in relation to the
events of August 1, 2018,” said Government.
Government says its position is that sanctions imposed on
the country are illegal and “any escalation of the same is counterproductive”.
President Mnangagwa has adopted a policy of rapprochement
towards countries with whom Zimbabwe has endured bad relations over the past
two decades.
However, Government said the rapprochement policy was not
“a policy of appeasement”, saying the principles of equality, sovereignty and
self-determination in statecraft should be respected.
“We therefore wish to place on record our strong
displeasure of actions to undermine Zimbabwe’s sovereignty and condemn
posturing meant to fan divisions rather than initiate national healing and
understanding,” said Government. Herald
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