By Lungile Siziba
It takes more than courage to confront a global giant, in its backyard, and tell it “enough is enough, remove your sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe”.
There is a huge risk of being sanctioned as well.
But African Heads of State forgot all that and stood in defence of a neighbour, a sister republic, a colleague, and demanded that the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe must be lifted immediately.
African leaders chose the grand stage of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 77) in New York mid-September, to unequivocally criticise the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe by the West, especially the United States.
When President Mnangagwa eventually took to the podium, truth had already been spoken to power, refreshingly by a third party, and all he had to do was to reaffirm that all Zimbabweans and Africans who do not wish Zimbabwe ill, were fed up with the sanctions.
While the leaders’ speeches had already been written, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa seemed to have set the tone for the rest of the continent after he took advantage of his meeting with US President Joe Biden a week before UNGA, and called for the immediate removal of sanctions to allow Zimbabweans to rebuild their economy.
President Ramaphosa said the illegal sanctions were throttling Zimbabwe’s economy, resulting in the closure of industries and those that would have been laid off, cross borders into Mozambique, South Africa and Botswana in search of better opportunities.
The US imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in December 2001 and has retained the most punitive sanctions, even when other countries and blocs have reviewed their sanctions regime.
Acting in unison, the European Union, the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, also imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe following the implementation of the successful and irreversible Land Reform Programme at the turn of the new millennium.
The sanctions were aimed at forcing Harare into allowing the nearly 4 500 white former commercial farmers to “retake their farms”.
The white former commercial farmers controlled the bulk of arable land while the majority of black people who engaged in a brutal war of liberation from the 1960s, had to make do with infertile soils where many of them barely harvested one tonne of maize from whatever size of land they owned.
The opposition MDC, which has had several splinters along the way, begged the US and the UK to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe with the hope of making the “economy scream” and turn citizens against the Zanu PF Government, so they would easily win elections.
African Union Chairperson and Senegal President Macky Sall, led the continent’s leaders in demanding the immediate removal of sanctions.
“The AU once again calls for the lifting of foreign sanctions against Zimbabwe.
“These harsh measures continue to inflict a sense of injustice against an entire people and aggravate their suffering in these times of deep crisis,” said President Sall.
For President Sall, adding the burden of sanctions onto a country that has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic like anyone else across the world, does not make sense.
The situation is worsened by the geopolitical issues in Eastern Europe where Russia is conducting and supply chains have been affected leading to high prices of goods globally.
Newly sworn-in Kenyan President William Ruto did not have kind words for the sanctions.
“Unilateral coercive actions, such as those imposed on Zimbabwe and Cuba, apart from undermining the sovereign equality of nations, also indiscriminately punish the general citizenry, reserving their bitterest sting for innocent hustlers and the vulnerable,” said President Ruto.
SADC Chair and DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, was blunt, describing the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe as “a crime against an innocent people”.
Firebrand South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor, who is standing in for President Cyril Ramaphosa at UNGA, also weighed in saying: “South Africa calls for an end to the embargo against Cuba, which continues to impede the right to development of her people.
“In the same vein, we call for an end to unilateral coercive measures against Zimbabwe, which have compounded the problems experienced by the people of Zimbabwe.”
Namibia President Hage Geingob also condemned the sanctions and called for their immediate removal.
In his address, President Mnangagwa said the sanctions continue to affect the economy and called for their immediate removal.
“Not withstanding our success, the ongoing deleterious effects of the illegal sanctions continue to hamper and slow down our progress and the realisation of sustainable and inclusive development.
“Zimbabwe is a peace-loving country. We remain indebted to the SADC region and the African Union, as well as other progressive members in the comity of nations for their unwavering support and calls for the removal of these unwarranted and unjustified sanctions. We once again call for their immediate and unconditional removal,” he said.
A United Nations Special Rapporteur, Professor Alena Douhan, visited Zimbabwe last year to assess the impact of the sanctions on the economy.
She interacted with the academia, businesspeople, non-governmental organisations, the church and politicians, all of the key organisations, apart from opposition politicians who demanded that the embargo be imposed on the country, told her that the sanctions were having a negative impact on the economy.
Some estimates say Zimbabwe lost up to US$40 billion in business opportunities due to the sanctions.
In her report, Prof Douhan has called for the immediate lifting of sanctions to allow Harare to rebuild its economy that has been shattered in over two decades due to the sanctions.
President Mnangagwa said the Government welcomes Prof Douhan’s findings that the sanctions were having a negative impact on the economy.
However, while the sanctions have undoubtedly crippled the economy, the intended plan of turning voters against Zanu PF has dismally failed.
Over the last two decades, Zanu PF has come up with a number of pro-people policies focusing on supporting youths, women and farmers, resulting in the majority of voters keeping their faith in the party.
Entrepreneurs were also given a platform to shine and have been producing a number of products to take the place of those withdrawn due to sanctions.
