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Yesterday we carried a story in The Herald Business to which we add more detail today in our main paper. It is the story of how one of the country’s oldest and most reputable banks, Standard Chartered, will no longer process US dollar cross-border payments, including outward telegraphic transfers, letters of credit and cheque transactions.

As we report, that move will also affect those who use international Visa cards and those with stop orders in foreign accounts.

The development is at the instance of Standard Chartered Bank’s New York branch pursuant to illegal sanctions the United States imposed on Zimbabwe 13 years ago. Those sanctions by the US and its Western allies are sugar-coated in lofty ideals such as human rights, rule of law and democracy.

From the beginning we were told the sanctions were meant to hurt only those who undermined these ideals and that those people were all members of the Zanu-PF “regime”.

Some Zimbabweans swallowed hook, line and sinker this sugar-coated illicit brew, not least because of the denialist propaganda the West and their fifth columnists here fed the populace.

The latest case of StanChart should put paid to these obfuscations. Western sanctions were designed to hurt the Government of Zimbabwe by denying it lines of credit, balance of payment support while the same Western governments would freeze and seize any money accrued to the country by way of investments and transactions.

This was meant to squeeze the Government and degrade its capacity to deliver services to its citizens. It was meant to separate the people from their Government, according to the US, so they could vote it out.

That is what is called regime change and sanctions are one of the instruments at the disposal of powerful countries. It goes well beyond Government per se.

Recently there was a case of a Chinhoyi couple who were barred from receiving their money at a local bank because of sanctions.

Other cases include Africa University failing to acquire computers and individuals being unable to transact via tools such as Paypal. These transactions were intercepted because those involved were supposedly linked to the Government of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has had to resort to circuitous channels to sell its diamonds to outside markets using third parties to avoid seizure of its money. Similarly, failure to retool by local industries which relied on Western machinery and spares point to the impact of sanctions on the Zimbabwean economy.

It is a pity that Zimbabweans have allowed themselves to be divided on this damaging issue due to parochial political interests. Ordinarily, we should be united against this attack on our sovereignty.

But we are not!

America itself is keen to see the success of its odious sanctions against our country. To that end, it will not allow any individual at home or abroad to undermine the sanctions by doing business with the sanctioned individuals and entities. It exacts heavy financial penalties against offenders.

A document by the US Treasury, which administers sanctions through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), outlines the punishment against those who bust sanctions, stating that:

“Civil monetary penalties of up to the greater of $250 000 or twice the amount of the underlying transaction, may be imposed administratively against any person who violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of EOs 13288, 13391, and 13469 or the regulations.” (EO stands for Executive Order, which is a declaration of an emergency by the US President, effectively meaning a state of war.)

“Upon conviction, criminal penalties of up to $1 000 000, imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both, may be imposed on any person who wilfully commits or attempts to commit, or wilfully conspires to commit, or aids or abets in the commission of a violation of the EOs or the regulations.”

The latest measures mean that StanChart as an institution must stop any dealings with Zimbabwe or face heavy penalties. Zimbabweans who were transacting through the bank outside the country must rethink. That is the meaning of sanctions.

There is nothing smart or targeted about them. They constitute an economic war against Zimbabwe and threaten out livelihood as a nation.

It behoves us all to stand as one in the face of such iniquity.