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Joseph Madzimure Senior Reporter

Anti-sanctions lobby group, the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Trust (ZAST) will host its inaugural indaba on Monday to coincide with the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day commemoration.

The event will take place at the University of Zimbabwe where different stakeholders are expected to deliberate on the sanctions in line with the theme “Friend to all, enemy to none: Forging ahead and enhancing innovation and productivity in adversity of sanctions.”

Palestinian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Tamer Almassri is expected to be the guest of honour at the event and will deliver a keynote address at the indaba which kicks off at 9am.

Delegates will share their reflections on the impact of sanctions on Zimbabwe, as well as an evaluation of the sanctions busting strategies that have been employed by the Government and Zimbabweans at large over the past two decades.

Also to be discussed are the strides that have been made by both Government and citizens to foster global relations, citizen empowerment, industrialisation and innovation, all under the adversity of sanctions.

The indaba will identify gaps within strategies currently being executed by Government and other economic players, with a view to coming up with policy proposals to the Government and other economic players in Zimbabwe.

ZAST president Dr Norbert Hosho said the period following the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe had been characterised by a surge in social ills.

The ills, he said, included domestic violence, poverty, unequal opportunities, racism, malnutrition, political polarisation and corruption among others.

Dr Hosho said it was worth noting that anyone who imposed sanctions on another did so with anticipation or full knowledge of the resultant consequences and thus the negative impact of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe was consistent with the expectations of the imposing nations.

“It is worrying that some of our fellow Zimbabweans have had their funds frozen by other countries, receiving e-mails to the effect that the freezes were in line with regulations governing conduct of members from countries that are under sanctions.

“The persons being referred to here are ordinary Zimbabweans whose names have never been on any sanctions list but have failed to transact by reason of being Zimbabweans.

“It has been evident over the years that local organisations in Zimbabwe are also deterred under the same regulations from doing business with or on behalf of any person or entity under sanctions,” he said.

Any act in breach of the sanctions regulations attracts huge financial penalties.

“Companies are left with no option but to inevitably transfer the burden to the customer who is the ultimate victim of the sanctions.

“In the case of trading entities, the financial penalty is factored into the price of products and ultimately paid by the general populace, causing price increases and thereby making life more and more difficult for the ordinary person,” he said.

He said ZAST was an organisation on a mission to enable the generality of Zimbabweans to fully comprehend how sanctions were imposed and how they were affecting their livelihoods.