Partial Sanctions Removal by US is Meaningless: President

“The recent announcement by the US that they were lifting sanctions on Zimbabwe remains absolute nonsense if they are partially removed. Those sanctions are illegal and the United Nations Security Council has also declared these sanctions illegal and they must be unconditionally removed,” said President Mnangagwa.

Freedom Mupanedemo and Patrick Chitumba

THE recent partial removal of sanctions on Zimbabwe by the United States is “absolute nonsense” and can only become meaningful if the illegal sanctions are removed in total, President Mnangagwa said yesterday. The President said this in Somabhula near Gweru following the announcement on Monday of the purported removal of sanctions by the US Government against many Zimbabweans and companies. US President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) terminating the national emergency with respect to Zimbabwe and revoking the EOs that have authorised Zimbabwe-specific sanctions. As a result, the US says the economic sanctions administered by the US Office of Foreign Assets control (OFAC) pursuant to the Zimbabwe sanctions programme are no longer in effect. Ironically, the same US administration went on to impose new ones on President Mnangagwa and some senior Government officials and business people who have been working on reviving the economy. The sanctions regime was introduced in 2001 when the country embarked on agrarian reforms aimed at addressing land imbalances that existed since the colonisation of the country by Britain. President Mnangagwa responded to the issue while addressing thousands of villagers from across the Midlands Province who attended the historic launch of three ICT policies namely the Reviewed National ICT Policy, the Smart Zimbabwe 2030 Master Plan and the National Broadband Plan at Somabhula Secondary School in the Vungu area. ReadMore