PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s broke government is
reportedly expected to blow an unbudgeted $4 million on its anti-sanctions
campaign to be rolled out in all the 10 provinces on Friday.
This comes at a time government is at loggerheads with its
restive workers, who have threatened to down tools starting today demanding
salary adjustments to cushion them against the runaway inflation.
The event has been planned to be run concurrently in other
Sadc member countries after the regional bloc resolved at its last summit in
Tanzania in August to campaign in solidarity with Zimbabwe.
Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu yesterday
said everything was on course, but could not be drawn into disclosing the
budget for the exercise.
“It’s well on course and the stakeholders met Thursday, to
deal with the issues of anti-sanctions march, that is the churches, the
non-governmental organisations, government and all those who are involved in
the process. They have had meetings and they continue to meet in preparation
for that great day, a national day,” he said.
Zimbabwe Concerned Citizens Forum (Forum) national
co-ordinator Taurai Kandishaya said they had mobilised over 200 000 people to
take part in the march in Harare alone, while others will take part in similar
activities in various towns and cities.
“At least 200 000 will add their voice in Harare alone, but
the march is going to be done across the country and, as you are aware, this is
a national crisis that will take every understanding citizen to self-fund,” he
said.
Kandishaya pleaded with government to pour in resources to
ensure that a solid statement is delivered to Western countries that have
maintained frosty relations with the Zanu PF regime.
The anti-sanctions campaign, which has received backing
from other Sadc countries, is aimed at piling pressure on the West —
particularly the United States (US) and European Union (EU) — to lift sanctions
imposed on Zimbabwe nearly two decades ago, and renewed recently.
Donald Trump’s US administration has maintained that the
restrictive measures were only targeted at individuals and companies.
In a recent interview with Alpha Media Holdings’ HStv, EU
ambassador to Zimbabwe Timo Olkkonen poured cold water on the Sadc
anti-sanctions lobby, saying the planned solidarity marches would not help
change the EU bloc’s position on Zimbabwe.
“Well, Sadc has the liberty of stating what it wants, that
is their political statement that they came out with recently. When you look at
the factual assessment about the facts, because in the Sadc communiqué, they
were talking about the economic effects and the unfairness of it and from that
perspective, we will not be convinced because we were just outlining the
limited effect of the economic restrictions that the economic measures would
have,” he said.
The bulk of the campaign money, according to government
sources, will be channelled towards provision of food, public address systems
and transport logistics for the thousands of mainly Zanu PF supporters who
would be bussed to various centres throughout the country.
“The event will not consume less than $4 million in
transport costs, food and loss of production costs given that no business will
happen in most government offices on the day. Ministers, top civil servants and
security personnel will be deployed for the event,” a government bureaucrat
involved in the logistics committee told NewsDay yesterday.
Government this year hired an American consultancy firm,
Ballard Partners, to spruce up its image at $500 000 a year with the contract
running from February 13, 2019 to February 13 2021.
The owner of the consultancy firm, Brian Ballard, is a top
fundraiser for Trump’s election campaigns.
The cash-strapped Mnangagwa administration has also hired
another American consultancy firm, Avenue Strategies Global LLC, for US$1 080
000 to lobby the United States government to drop sanctions against the
southern African nation.
The agreement signed on April 5, 2019 by chief executive
officer Barry Bennet, will remain in full force and effect until April 5, 2020,
but may be extended with written consent of the parties.
Opposition political parties have, however, said they will
not join the march, describing it as a waste of taxpayers’ money.
MDC vice-president Lynette Karenyi-Kore called on Mnangagwa
to address the human rights issues first before the West could consider lifting
the sanctions.
“Who will help this country if we are busy killing our own
people, abducting doctors, rights activists and ordinary people in the middle
of the night? We need a government that does not impose sanctions on its own
people for it to be taken as an equal on the world stage,” she said.
MDC youth deputy chairperson Cecilia Chimbiri said: “The
biggest sanctions this country is facing is misgovernace, corruption and
oppression all epitomised by the Zanu PF-led Constitutional Court government.”
Opposition National Patriotic Front spokesperson Jealousy
Mawarire said the money being blown on anti-sanctions campaigns could better be
used to fund social services.
“For sanctions to go, the government has to respect the
Constitution. They have to stop abducting their own people and allow freedom of
expression, freedom to demonstrate and to stop this rule by the gun. The
marches will not help change anything,” he said. Newsday
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