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Dr Masimba Mavaza Correspondent
In 2018, a group of 16 African countries called on the US and EU to lift sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.

The then Sadc chairman, President John Magufuli of Tanzania was equivocal that sanctions were not only hurting Zimbabwe, but the region as a whole.

Indeed, the ripple effects of sanctions are contagious in that they also hurt our neighbours as Zimbabwe’s full economic potential is hamstrung.  The exodus of Zimbabweans to other countries can be attributed to sanctions.  The problems the region is facing now have their roots in the sanctions.

The sanctions were imposed almost two decades ago during the First Republic then led by founding leader President Mugabe who oversaw the land redistribution exercise.

Since then, no one doubts that much of the economic challenges Zimbabwe is facing have more to do with sanctions as they led to the closure of critical lines of credit from Bretton Woods institutions that were controlled by the same countries that imposed sanctions on the country.

For Zimbabwe to revamp its economy and be able to attract substantial foreign direct investment (FDI), sanctions have to be removed unconditionally.

Despite the debilitating effects of sanctions, the Zimbabwean Government has not sat on its laurels. It has so far managed to harness local resources to embark on massive infrastructural development projects that include roads, dams, houses and is moving towards full mechanisation of agriculture.

While it is acknowledged that sanctions have created a negative country perception from investors, the Zimbabwe Government has set its eyes on the ball through its re-engagement policy that has resulted in many countries mellowing their abrasive and antagonistic attitude. The Zimbabwe Government is aware of the fact that the ultimate goal of sanctions is regime change.

This awareness has also cascaded to regional countries that have all raised concern over the unilateral imposition of sanctions whose genesis lies in a bilateral tiff between Zimbabwe and Britain over the land issue.

It is this awareness that informed Sadc in August this year to resolve to make October 25, an anti-sanctions day not only in solidarity with Zimbabwe but with all other regional countries that my come under illegal sanctions. October 25 is therefore a critical date in the life of Sadc in that it clearly demonstrates the regional body’s unanimous disapproval of the decision taken by the European Union (EU) and United States (US) to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe after it embarked on a revolutionary land redistribution exercise to correct historical inequities.

In Africa, Zimbabwe and Sudan are the only countries whose well-being is being hamstrung by economic sanctions.

The EU sanctions consist of an arms embargo and targeted asset freezes and travel bans, while the US has imposed financial restrictions and travel sanctions against selected individuals and entities.

This means any organisation which does business with America is barred from transacting any trade, deals or investment in Zimbabwe.

Following former president Mugabe’s resignation and a genuine resolve to reform the whole political and economic strata, many had hoped that the US and EU would acknowledge these reforms and seriously reconsider the continued existence of sanctions.

But this has not been the case because of actions of local opposition political entities like MDC Alliance, which believes that sanctions give them an advantage in that they accentuate the suffering of local people. The thinking behind this hankering on sanctions is that the more people suffer, the more they are likely to rise against the Government.

Any positive development in Zimbabwe is anathema to MDC-Alliance, whose main agenda is to attract negative international spotlight on the country.

Devoid of any policy alternative to sell to the electorate, the opposition has now resorted to all manner of destabilising actions that include anti-Government protests, fake abductions, social media hashtags, rehashing of archival pictures and videos with the soul aim of painting a tumultuous state of affairs in the country.

While all the opposition shenanigans managed to fool a section of the international audience, they could not fool Sadc member states that are well abreast of the actual situation prevailing the country.

The regional body maintains that the “illegal sanctions” have “an adverse impact on the economy of Zimbabwe and the region at large” and therefore must be removed.

Zimbabwe is grateful to the solidarity shown by Sadc.

The regional body’s anti-sanctions clarion call exemplifies the common adage that says “an injury to one is an injury to all.”

It is ironic that while some Western nations have arrogated themselves the role of assessors of constitutional transgressions or human rights abuses in Zimbabwe; worse abuses are taking place in their own backyards particularly in the US where blacks continue to be treated as second class citizens through institutional racism that make them targets of police brutality.

Many will surely remember one top Western leader brazenly declaring that maybe what Africa needs is recolonisation.

It is such statements that embolden Sadc member states to act in unison in protecting their territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty as enshrined in the United Nations Charter Chapter 1, Article 1 on the Purpose of the United Nations clearly says that the international body endeavours to:

• To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
• To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
• To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
• To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

Sadc’s call is for fair and just treatment of all countries. Sanctions must go. Zimbabwe deserves better.

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