The illegal and unilateral Western economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe must immediately be lifted to allow the country to grow to its full potential, President Mnangagwa has said.
In his statement on the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day, the
President called upon Western nations to embrace the spirit of dialogue ushered
in by the Second Republic and which has seen the European Union and Zimbabwe
regularly holding meetings.
“In line with our vision to be peaceful, prosperous and
effective participants in the community of nations by 2030, my Government
stands ready to strengthen cooperation with all in pursuit of our national
aspirations and common global interests. It is my fervent hope that the
dialogue with the European Union will remain constructive and proceed in the
spirit of equal partnership for the mutual benefit of our people.
“My Government is also ready to enter into similar
structured dialogue with the United Kingdom and the United States. Against this
background of the various engagement and re-engagement processes, we view the
continued renewal and in some cases imposition of fresh sanctions on Zimbabwe
as most unfortunate and regrettable.
“In spite of the constraining effects of the illegal
economic sanctions, my Government has taken a deliberate stance to accelerate
the implementation of various development projects throughout the country
guided by the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) as well as our collective
desire to meet milestones towards the achievement of the SADC Vision 2050, the
African Union Development Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Development
Goals,” President Mnangagwa said.
Notwithstanding the unnecessary burden of the illegal
sanctions that were imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom and their
Western allies at the turn of the millennium, Zimbabwe is inching towards
Vision 2030 of becoming an upper middle economy with transformative
industrialisation and modernisation that leaves no one behind.
“It is now two decades since our great country was slapped
with illegal, unilateral, unjustified and unfair sanctions following a decision
to repossess our land grabbed from us by the minority white settler colonialists.”
The President said the sanctions were imposed under
frivolous and misguided guises by the country’s erstwhile colonisers in
response to the land reform programme that redressed colonial land inequities.
“This resulted in significant changes in the country’s
socio-economic landscape affecting the capacity of service delivery and
lowering the quality of life of the people of Zimbabwe.
“More recently the illegal sanctions adversely affected our
country’s ability to respond to climate change-induced natural disasters and
the Covid-19 pandemic.”
While other world nations received various forms of aid
from international lending institutions to cope with natural disasters and the
Covid-19, Zimbabwe has had to go it alone as the United States has, through its
wreath of sanctions and other restrictions made it nigh-impossible for
development partners to do business with Zimbabwe.
“Sanctions on Zimbabwe are illegal, unfair, and
unjustifiable. The illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe must go now notwithstanding
the concerted efforts by our detractors to derail our development agenda, let
us remain united and peaceful. We are winning against these sanctions. Victory
is indeed certain,” he said.
The SADC Anti-Sanctions Day is this year being held under
the theme “Zimbabwe: Friend to All, Enemy to None: Forging ahead and Enhancing
Innovation and Productivity in Adversity of Sanctions”, an apt description of
the country’s foreign policy.
“I am also deeply humbled by the immense support and
solidarity of the SADC Heads of States and Governments and other progressive
world leaders and other organisations who have joined our call for the removal
of the illegal and debilitating sanctions imposed on our nation,” the President
said.
The SADC Anti-Sanctions Day was established in 2019 by the
39th Summit of the SADC Heads of States and Governments that specifically set
aside October 25 as a day when the whole region jointly advocates for the
unconditional removal of the illegal sanctions. Herald
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