Zvamaida Murwira Herald Reporter
The United States is keen to engage Zimbabwe to lift sanctions and normalise relations after realising that the embargo had not produced any meaningful effect, a former diplomat has said.

Former Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to China, Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa said the US had realised that dis-engagement with Harare would adversely affect its economic interest.
Zimbabwe, he said, is endowed with vast mineral resources.

Ambassador Mutsvangwa, who was in the US on official business for the past two weeks, said this yesterday while delivering a lecture at Harare Polytechnic during a business symposium organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union.

“They want to get engaged with Zimbabwe again. They said they wanted to find a way of dropping sanctions,” he said.

Ambassador Mutsvangwa said he had interacted with some Government officials who expressed their eagerness to have the embargo lifted.

He said should the sanctions be lifted, it would be one of many victories for Zimbabwe against imperialist forces. Zimbabwe, he said, not only won the liberation struggle but also won the battle to regain its land that had been taken by whites.
“You would have won a major victory. When a super power in this world admits that it had made a mistake,” he said. Ambassador Mutsvangwa urged students to work hard, saying the major purpose why Zimbabweans waged a war for liberation struggle was to get opportunities.

“Things like human rights, democracy are just an expression of opportunities,” he said.
Affirmative Action Group founding president, Mr Philip Chiyangwa urged students to be wary of politicians who do not protect the virtues of the liberation struggle.

He lauded President Mugabe for opening up opportunities for the empowerment of indigenes.
“The choice that we made in that of (President) Mugabe is to me the best choice. He cannot be replaced by anybody, who is working for outside masters,” said Mr Chiyangwa who was guest of honour.

On the final constitutional draft, Mr Chiyangwa advised the youth to be guided by Zanu-PF’s decision.

“The Zanu-PF Politburo is deliberating on the draft constitution. It is supposed to make a decision as leadership and we should respect that decision,” he said.
The symposium was aimed at giving successful businessmen a platform to share experiences with the students so as to give them inspiration.