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Mukudzei Chingwere Herald Reporter

ZIMBABWEANS must fully utilise their capabilities to rise against the bane of illegal sanctions and help in the lifting of thousands of people from poverty to prosperity, President Mnangagwa has said.

This comes as Zimbabwe today joins the rest of the progressive world in the call for the unconditional removal of illegal sanctions that were imposed on the country by the United States and its Western allies as punishment for the land reform programme that redressed colonial land inequities.

To pile pressure on the Western world over the sanctions, member states of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) in 2019 set aside October 25 as Anti-Sanctions Day, in a bold statement that has found currency across the globe.

While sanctions have bled Zimbabwe of no less than US$100 billion since imposition over two decades ago, President Mnangagwa said they will never weigh down indomitable Zimbabweans.

On behalf of President Mnangagwa who lost a grandson on Sunday, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga yesterday delivered the President’s speech that will be broadcast on Zimbabwe television stations, radio and other mainstream media platforms today.

In the speech, the President challenged Zimbabweans not to sit on their laurels but to double their efforts in pushing national economic development programmes towards Vision 2030, to become an upper-middle-class economy by 2030.

President Mnangagwa noted that while there is no denying the immense drawbacks that the country has to endure in pursuit of its national goals, Zimbabweans must appreciate that at the end of the day they have to see to it that they successfully push their own development agenda embodying the “Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo” principle.

“I express profound gratitude to the Southern African Development Community, SADC, the African Union, AU, and to other progressive forces, for the support and unwavering solidarity we continue to receive as we struggle against the illegal sanctions imposed on us by some Western countries.

“This is a day SADC designated yearly to express its opposition to and outrage against illegal Western sanctions against Zimbabwe, until they are removed.”

“Be that as it may, these sanctions cannot sanction our minds, our original thinking, our skill sets, our energies and, most importantly, our God-given land as well as our natural endowments,” said the President.

“We must therefore fully utilise all our creativity and endowments to insulate our economy from these sanctions, and to implement with great vigour our local development prescriptions, programmes and projects to improve the quality of life of our people.

“We have a duty to lift our people out of poverty to prosperity. It is only through self-generated development, determination, focus, perseverance and resilience, across all the 10 provinces of our country, that we shall conquer the illegal sanctions. Our economic turnaround efforts would have been faster and less painful, had it not been for the hurdles placed in our way by the illegal sanctions.

“Despite the hardships, prospects of attaining Vision 2030 remain bright and within reach. Let us therefore remain resolute in our individual and collective efforts to rebuild and grow our great motherland, Zimbabwe.”

The theme of this year’s SADC Anti-Sanctions Day is “Enhancing Zimbabwe’s through Economic Development, Engagement and Re-engagement”, a subject that the President said is most fitting and inspiring.

He said it exhorts the nation to continue building resilience, adaptive capacities and strategies in the fight against the coercive measures.

“We are not and will never yield to the sanctions’ conditioning and strangulating effect. We will never give up on the sacred ideals and goals of our protracted armed liberation struggle. We will not abandon the path we have chosen for ourselves as a sovereign people to develop, modernise and industrialise our great motherland, Zimbabwe, using our own capabilities, resources and international goodwill.”

President Mnangagwa said the sanctions regime undermines tenets of the “human factor approach” of nations in pursuit of sustainable socio-economic development.

He added that sanctions are an attack on the freedoms and sovereignty of Zimbabwe and defy the fundamentals and precepts of international law.

The President said sanctions challenge the notion of equality of nations, and the values of global governance enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

“We call, press and reiterate that these illegal sanctions Must Go. The people and Government of Zimbabwe deserve a chance.”

President Mnangagwa said guided by the engagement and re-engagement policy, Zimbabwe remains determined to be a peaceful and effective participant in the comity of nations.

“It is therefore critical to note that the structured political dialogue with the European Union, which has been going on since 2019, is enhancing greater understanding on issues of mutual interest,” he said.

“The progress recorded to date strengthens my administration to keep focused on re-engagement.

“My administration will continue to strengthen the reform agenda, by addressing all impediments which constrain economic growth, business confidence and investment.

“Equally, we stand ready to facilitate and welcome investors into the various sectors of our economy. We do all these reforms for our people and for our country.”

President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe welcomes the invitation to participate at the Africa-US Summit which will be held in Washington DC in December 2022.

He said Zimbabwe will use the meeting to re-engage with the United States and hopes the US will be forthcoming.

The President also noted encouraging progression in economic reforms like the within-reach US$12 billion mining economy and the soon-to-be-achieved US$8.2 billion agricultural economy.