The chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Friday called for the unconditional lifting of all sanctions imposed against Zimbabwe.
"The Chairperson remains concerned by the negative impact of continued sanctions against the Republic of Zimbabwe on the country’s socio-economic development and recovery efforts," his office stated in a message marking SADC’s Anti-Sanctions Day, observed annually on October 25.
“In solidarity, the SADC community today joins Zimbabwe in calling for the immediate and unconditional removal of these unwarranted and cruel sanctions, which violate the basic tenets of international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” stated Zimbabwe’s President and current SADC chairperson, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa emphasized that the imposition of sanctions undermines the collective efforts toward regional integration and sustainable development.
Anti-Sanctions Day
In Zimbabwe, Anti-Sanctions Day was marked under the banner of the Broad Alliance against Sanctions, with a small group of citizens gathering outside the US Embassy to call for the removal of US-imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.
“The sanctions must go. Every ordinary Zimbabwean is suffering because of these sanctions,” Edwin Mbewe, a protester, said.
However, the US embassy refuted claims that the sanctions are to blame for the country’s economic struggles, instead attributing Zimbabwe’s economic crisis to government corruption.
“The notion that US sanctions are the cause of Zimbabwe’s difficulties does not align with reality. This false narrative diverts attention from the real issues plaguing Zimbabwe. According to reports by Zimbabwe’s own Prosecutor General, Zimbabwe loses $1.8 billion to corruption annually,” said Pamela Tremont, the US ambassador to Zimbabwe, in a statement.
'Economic mismanagement'
Further commenting on its page on X, formerly Twitter, the US Embassy stated, “there are no sanctions on the 16 million people in Zimbabwe. We urge the government to deal with economic mismanagement and corrupt actors who are the root causes of Zimbabwe’s economic troubles.”
Ambassador Tremont also indicated that Zimbabwe’s economic problems are largely due to mismanagement, which she attributed to corruption costing the country about $2 billion a nnually.
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