EFFORTS by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to get the Church of England’s Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, to seek help for the removal of sanctions face headwinds after the cleric said there would be no mercy for “thieves” looting the country’s resources.
Welby met clergymen from Zimbabwe that formed part of
Mnangagwa’s bloated delegation of about 100 officials who flew to Glasgow,
Scotland, early this month to attend the COP26 climate summit.
But, in a video of the meeting, the archbishop’s response
was clear that any form of sanctions relief would only benefit the poorest and
not those “stealing” what was not theirs from the country.
The clerics were tasked to meet Welby to make a case
against sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the United Kingdom (UK), which they
claimed had been “stymying Zimbabwe’s normal, interactive development since
2000”.
“The present sanctions are crippling the poor,” Andrew
Wutawunashe said during the meeting.
“Even now, we had the UN [United Nations] rapporteur who
came and confirmed the same, investigated everything and discovered that the
sanctions are actually doing the same, destroying infrastructure that is
supposed to be for the poor and common people and destroying employment.
“Now we are requesting your voices and we felt in particular
that your voice, if you are able to make a request you would help us, you would
help political powers that be to have a bit of conscience for the suffering of
the poor.”
In a terse response, Welby said he would go through the
document which the Zimbabwe delegation penned, titled Sanctions Relief
Initiative, and discuss with relevant authorities, while insisting that the
move would only be meant to protect the poor.
“Thank you very much. This is very, very important. I will
obviously read this later today. I will discuss it with people here and see how
we can advocate for the poorest while ensuring that those who steal from the
country what is not theirs, be themselves not the beneficiaries (and) don’t
benefit from the relief of the sanctions,” he said.
The Zimbabwean government described the meeting with Welby
as a breakthrough.
The Zimbabwean clergymen that engaged Welby included
Wutaunashe, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Churches’ Sanctions Relief Initiative,
Roman Catholic priest Father Fidelis Mukonori, Zion Christian Church leader and
patron of the Zimbabwe Indigenous Interdenominational Council of Churches,
bishop Nehimiah Mutendi, reverend Felix Mukonowengwe of Harvest Time Ministries
and member of the Elders Forum, Elizabeth Karonga of the Roman Catholic Church
and a member of the Zimbabwe Elders Forum, bishop Peter Zvanaka Mukwena of
Worldwide Family of God Church, bishop Trevor Manhanga of Pentecostal
Assemblies of God in Zimbabwe and Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, and
bishop Farai Katsande of the Zimbabwe Council of Pentecostal Churches.
The UK has insisted that the targeted measures will only go
after the Zanu PF-led government ends human rights abuses and corruption, which
it says were causing economic hardships.
Last year, the UK added onto its sanctions list members of the securocrats that include former Presidential Guard boss Anselem Sanyatwe, Central Intelligence Organisation director-general Isaac Moyo and Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga for their alleged involvement in human rights violations. Newsday
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