Drop the Shopping
Posted by ZDN on August 27, 2009
27 August 2009
Zimbabwe: Targeted sanctions must remain in place until the targeted persons and organisations mend their ways.
Zanu-PF’s preoccupation with shopping expeditions for 250 of its members, when the nation needs every cent for food and basic services, is outrageous.
Led by Vice-President Joice Mujuru, the party’s petulant cries for ‘illegal sanctions’ to be lifted are unlikely to produce the desired results, since the individuals on the list have done nothing that might persuade the US and Europe to lift them.
But the Zanu-PF spin doctors assert that the MDC is somehow able to lift these sanctions – which only affect those directly responsible for destroying the country and undermining its democracy: Zanu-PF officials, family members and corrupt business associates.
The Zanu-PF owned Herald newspaper leader (August 17, 2009) noted: “We hail the resolution made by the Zanu-PF Politburo calling on the MDC formations to honour their part of the bargain instead of making endless demands without ceding anything, a stance that implies a sinister motive.”
The Herald would do well to remember that the lifting of targeted sanctions is the prerogative of the countries that imposed them – long before the GPA was even mooted.
The United States and the European Union have stated repeatedly that they will lift sanctions only once certain minimum criteria – the very issues that Zanu-PF refuses to address – are met.
Desperate to Shop
The sanctions Zanu-PF is so desperate to see lifted are the United States’ perfectly legal refusal to allow the 250 people on their list to visit their country; a ban on weapons of war to be sold to Zimbabwe or for Americans to trade with specified (Zanu-PF-controlled) local companies.
Canada banned arms exports to Zimbabwe, froze the assets of top Zimbabwean officials and banned Zimbabwean aircraft from Canadian airspace.
The EU sanctions, linked to the former government’s abuse of an EU election observer, are milder: 160 people may not visit EU countries, there is an arms embargo and a prohibition on technical or financial assistance to the military.
The only bright light in this sorry tale of Zanu-PF greed and deception is that some of its ministers – most likely those currently without direct access to illicit funds – must be struggling to maintain their lavish lifestyles on US$300 a month.
Certainly the car lots in Harare bulge with second hand luxury vehicles and it may explain their desperation to travel to the despised West.
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08-29-2009
3:51 am
Angel watcher
Zanupf need these illegal sanctions (sic) removed so funds can be released to fund their next murderous election.
I pray that the free world can see this and ignores all calls for their removal, even if those calls come from the MDC.