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Wallace Ruzvidzo Herald Reporter

The Zanu-PF Women’s League yesterday held an anti-sanctions build-up meeting at the party headquarters in preparation for the anti-sanctions day scheduled for the 25th of this month.

Addressing hundreds of Zanu-PF Women’s League members, Zanu-PF national chairperson Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said the country’s detractors misled the world that the illegal embargo was “targeted” at leaders.

Yet in reality, the sanctions affect ordinary Zimbabweans, especially women, children and people with disabilities.

Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri said the land reform programme was the beginning of sanctions for Zimbabwe.

“After the landmark and historic land reform programme, the UK, US, EU and their allies at the instigation of the opposition MDC imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe under the pretext that there was no rule of law in Zimbabwe,” she said.

“As a result of the ruinous illegal sanctions, the country went through almost two decades of isolation and failed to access, among other things, the capital and aid which other countries receive from key development partners and the country was isolated with its leadership demonised and innocent people suffered as a result of the economic meltdown.

“In all this, women, children and people with disability were the major victims.”

Zanu-PF secretary for Women’s League, Cde Mabel Chinomona, said the sanctions were an impediment to the country’s development.

“Sanctions are affecting everyone, so we as women should fight against these sanctions because we are the hardest hit,” she said.

“If we as women do not do something about these sanctions, then we will continue to suffer.

“These sanctions were put on us by people who envy the resources we have and that is what they want. They are angry because we took back our land and they are lying that these sanctions are targeted at individuals.

“There are poor living conditions in the country, but those that help international development like the IMF are being stopped from helping us because of these sanctions.”

Zanu-PF Women’s League secretary for administration Cde Monica Mutsvangwa urged women to come out for the anti-sanctions march in their numbers, as women were the most affected because there has not been meaningful investments into the country for the past two decades.

“The women in this country are taking the biggest brunt of these sanctions, they have caused so much pain,” she said.

“The United Nations which has the sole mandate of imposing sanctions on any country has not declared sanctions on us, but the US and EU have imposed these sanctions to strangle the economy of this country.

“What it means is that there is no investment in this country, no meaningful investment has come into this country for the last 20 years, meaning that women are suffering so much. No country can stand on its own, we need foreign direct investment, we need loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, yet ZIDERA actually prohibits those institutions to give funding or loans to Zimbabwe, so most of the factories are closed.”

The imposition of sanctions has been accompanied by the entry of Western-funded opposition political parties, opposition linked non-governmental organisations, as well as the hostile independent media.