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 Masvingo Bureau

Illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the West must go as they are targeted at collapsing key pillars of the national economy but Zimbabwe will use its resources to fend them off and foster growth towards prosperity, President Mnangagwa has said.

The President highlighted the ruinous impact of sanctions saying it was blatantly false that the illegal embargoes were targeted at only a few individuals in Zimbabwe.

He called for the unconditional removal of the sanctions and hailed the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the whole of Africa for speaking out against sanctions and setting October 25 as a day to collectively call for their removal.

SADC designated October 25 as an Anti-Sanctions Day for the region to speak with one voice on the need to lift them unconditionally.

Addressing thousands of people at Rutenga Primary School yesterday, the President said Government had invited UN Special Rapporteur Ms Alena Douhan to come to Zimbabwe and have a full appreciation of the impact of sanctions.

Ms Douhan is currently visiting Zimbabwe on a 10-day mission to assess the impact of the economic blockade.

President Mnangagwa said national efforts to retool local industries and acquire new machinery were being hampered by the sanctions.

“We gave a resolution during the chairmanship of the late Tanzanian President (John) Magufuli that as SADC, all its 16-member states should speak with one voice today (October 25) that sanctions must go and the current SADC chair President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi has already given a statement on behalf of the region that sanctions must be removed,” said the President.

“We are saying remove them unconditionally and let’s us all be heard saying that sanctions must be removed and we have even invited the UN Special Rapporteur Ms Dourhan to assess the impact of these sanctions.”

The President said it was hypocritical for the West to say the sanctions were targeted at certain individuals and not the majority of Zimbabweans.

“They say the sanctions are only targeted at some individuals and that is a lie. They are targeted at the key pillars of our economy making it difficult for us to retool our industries or even buy new machinery such as tractors but of course we get some of these things from those who are friendly to us but don’t be fooled that the sanctions are only targeted at some few individuals.”

President Mnangagwa said local puppets of the West invited the sanctions to collapse the economy but the Second Republic would not allow the embargo to put down the country.

“As the Second Republic, we said nyika inovakwa nevene vayo (a country is developed by its people). We said we will eat what we produce, we will eat what we kill that is why my Government came up with interventions to cushion its people from effects of climate change such as Pfumvudza.”

Local Western puppets wanted to surrender the country’s resources to their masters after removing the revolutionary Zanu PF Government through collapsing the economy with sanctions but this would never happen, said President Mnangagwa.

“Our resolve and will to defend our land and heritage is bigger and those who invited sanctions on this country will,”he said.

The Zanu PF Government would continue devising new strategies to insulate the country from the effects of sanctions.

“Vatengesi vanongoramba vachingotengesa zuva ne zuva vachingotengesa (We have people who sell-out the country on a daily basis) but as Zanu PF, we will come up with new projects and programmes that uplift the lives of our people.”

He challenged Zimbabweans to remain united and work together to defend the gains of independence.

President Mnangagwa assured Zimbabweans that programmes such as Pfumvudza would continue to ensure food security but warned Agritex officers against abusing Pfumvudza inputs.

He said the inputs should be distributed without favour saying Government would punish errant Agritex officers who abused the inputs.

The thousands of people who were addressed by the President were unequivocal in their demand for unconditional removal of the sanctions.

They carried placards with messages denouncing the illegal embargoes imposed to punish Zimbabwe for redistributing land taken from white former commercial farmers.

Some of the placards had messages such as “Sanctions strangling Zimbabwe; Pasi nemaSanctions; Ngaaende Ngazviende,” among others.