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Locadia Mavhudzi Midlands correspondent

Civic Society and Churches Joint Forum (CSCJF) has launched a nationwide door-to-door community awareness programme to educate Zimbabweans on how Western sanctions are affecting the economy.

CSCJF national coordinator Miss Abigail Mpambi said the door-to-door campaign is meant to engage with people at grassroots level so that they appreciate the damage that sanctions have brought to their livelihoods.

“We are taking the campaign to the grassroots. Communities are suffering as a direct result of the effects of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.

‘‘As progressive civic society and churches we will not be quiet and pretend things are well, hence the door-to-door campaign has just begun in all provinces,” she said.

Miss Mpambi said Section 5 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) of 2018 does not allow Zimbabwe to access any financial loans meant for economic development from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

“The fact that international lines of credit are closed for our nation really cripples our economy. This has affected ordinary Zimbabweans because our Government cannot access financial loans to revive our industries.

‘‘This is the root cause of the prevailing high rate of unemployment, low exports and poor health facilities,” she said.

Meanwhile, CSCJF spokesperson Mr Innocent Netanyahu said in Gweru, the door-to-door campaign will be concentrating on high-density suburbs to ensure that the information reaches many people in a short space of time.

“Our teams are already on the ground and our main targets are high-density areas like Mkoba, Senga and Mbizo where we can raise awareness to a large number of people in an instant.

‘‘Teams will be wearing T-shirts for easy identification.

‘‘We want to out rightly dispel the notion that the civil society sector is a tool for regime change.

‘‘We fully support the Government in calling for sanctions removal,” he said.

SADC has declared October 25 as the solidarity day against illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and resolved to conduct various activities in their respective countries on the day to resoundingly call for the immediate removal of the sanctions.