By Lloyd Takawira
Barely two weeks after the European Union extended it’s sanctions against Zimbabwe, the United States of America has done the same.
The US has mantained targeted sanctions against Zanu PF officials arguing that that government ‘accelerated its persecution of critics and economic mismanagement in the past year, during which security forces have conducted extrajudicial killings, rapes, and alleged abductions of numerous dissidents.’
US went onto launch a scathing attack against the Zanu PF led government accusing it of missing an opportunity to implement political and economic reforms.
The statement reads “In the wake of the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe in November 2017, Zimbabwe’s national elections in July 2018, and President Mugabe’s subsequent death in September 2019, Zimbabwe has had ample opportunity to implement reforms that could set the country on a constructive path, stabilise the southern African region, and open the door to greater cooperation with the United States,”
“Unfortunately, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has yet to signal credible political will to implement such reforms. Indeed, the Zimbabwean government has arguably accelerated its persecution of critics and economic mismanagement in the past year, during which security forces have conducted extrajudicial killings, rapes, and alleged abductions of numerous dissidents.
“These actions and policies by certain members of the government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic processes or institutions continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States. Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13288 with respect to Zimbabwe.”
The US sanctions apply to 86 Zimbabwean individuals and 56 entities linked to the individuals as of February 2020.
The restrictive measures were first implemented by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) on March 7, 2003, when then President George Bush issued an executive order imposing restrictive measures against “specifically identified individuals and entities in Zimbabwe, as a result of the actions and policies of certain members of the Zanu PF government.
