The chair of Pan African Forum Dr David Matsanga has called for the removal of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by a law the United States Congress passed in 2001, during late Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's regime.
Matsanga who is also an international conflict resolution expert claim the restrictive measures have a direct effect on ordinary civilians and frustrate policy space for the government's development plans.
According to the US Embassy in Zimbabwe, the sanctions are "targeted financial sanctions against select members of Zimbabwe's ruling elite for undermining democratic processes, abusing human rights or facilitating corruption".
Matsanga holds a contrary opinion:Last year 2021 the United Nations Secretary General sent a UN Human Rights Envoy to Zimbabwe to evaluate the harm and effects of USA imposed Sanctions on the people of Zimbabwe. These include the collapse of all tenets of humanity in terms human needs. The UN Secretary General wanted to know to what extent the damage caused by USA sanctions.For over 20 years the people of Zimbabwe have suffered under illegal sanctions imposed on them by USA. Zimbabwe is country in the AU, UN and other international organizations.
The US Embassy in Harare argues that "sanctioned members of the ruling elite continue to undermine Zimbabwe's democratic processes and institutions, commit human rights abuses related to repression, and engage in corruption.
Matsanga has further urged African heads of states set to join President Joe Biden in Washington in mid-December to take part in the second United States-Africa Leaders Summit to rally behind the welfare and Independence of the continent in a bid to realise their dreams.
Some 50 African leaders will travel to the US capital for the two-day conference, which starts on December 13.
"African Presidents who will be travelling to the US should advocate for our sovereignty and push for exoneration of countries like Zimbabwe who has obligation to trade and export its own minerals like DIAMONDS,GOLD, and many others without seeking permission from the USA or any other country that is also government under the UN Charter. It is anti-African for Zimbabwe to continue begging the USA on how to conduct their trade and banking affairs when nobody is sanctioning the same USA from imposing tariffs and embargoes on our brothers in Africa" he added
US state department officials reiterated that sanctions were not targeted at most Zimbabweans but at individuals who had presided over human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions and corruption.
In September,the United States updated targeted U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwean individuals and entities responsible for committing grave human rights abuses, undermining democracy, or contributing to corruption on a massive scale
The sanctions have also become something of an irritant in Washington’s relations with other African states and the issue was among the items on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s agenda in his bilateral meeting with President Biden last week
