…says
US will not be moved by protests, actions have consequences
…sanctions
only targets 141 individuals and companies
Upenyu
Chaota
The United States envoy to Zimbabwe Ambassador Brian
Nichols has said that only President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration holds
the keys to the removal of sanctions if they implement the political and
economic reforms which they campaigned on and not waste millions on a march
against sanctions as it will not move the American government.
The government of Zimbabwe in support of Sadc have
declared October 25 as a day against sanctions on Zimbabwe and President
Mnangagwa’s administration has declared the day a public holiday coupled with a
march in the capital which will gobble in excess of $4 million.
In a wide ranging interview with TellZim News,
Ambassador Nichols said the real sanction that has affected the people of
Zimbabwe is the government’s lack of political will to deal with corruption
where millions of dollars of public funds are looted wantonly.
“The removal of the restrictive measures against
Zimbabwe is something that is wholly in the hands of the government of
Zimbabwe.
“The things that we would like to see are political
reforms for example the repeal of Posa that has already been voted for in
Parliament but is sitting on the President’s desk awaiting signature since
August.
“In the meantime Posa has been invoked at least six
times to block protests and that sends a message that the repeal is not really
a serious issue. Aippa, which covers media, is another piece of legislation
that the government campaigned for repeatedly that it was going to repeal but
it has not.
“The Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency, the
legislation sat awaiting parliamentary action for the entire session of the
last parliament and it has expired and that is another piece of legislation
that this government campaigned upon and said it was going to pass,” said
Ambassador Nichols.
He said Zimbabwe needs to start making steps towards
implementing reforms and not just talk about them.
“The broad electoral reforms that the government said
it was going to implement, there have been retreats led by the Zec to discuss
the reforms, five different electoral observation commissions have been here
from the international community as well as nationally based electoral
observers and they have looked at these reforms but no legislation has been
passed.
“These are all things that are well within the
government’s ability to resolve,” said Ambassador Nichols.
Ambassador Nichols said the relaxation in implementing
the recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry has put a dent on
Zimbabwe’s path to reform.
“Investigations into the human rights violations have
taken place for example the August 1 2018 violence and the Motlanthe commission
recommendations have not been implemented and no one has been prosecuted for
the shooting that took place on August 1 by the members of the military which
resulted in the death of six people. Foreign Affairs Minister SB Moyo said his
government is going to prosecute but we haven’t see that prosecution taking
place,” said Ambassador Nichols.
He said there are only 141 individuals and companies
on the sanctions list and that cannot affect the majority of the population of
over 16 million.
“There are 141 people and companies that are on our
sanctions list and that is less than 0.0006 percent of the population of
Zimbabwe of 16 million and you can’t really say that is affecting the broader
population as compared to things like the NSSA scandal where $100 million was
stolen, Command agriculture scandal, auditor general’s report of over $2
billion unaccounted for between 2017 – 2018 and between 2018 – 2019 we have
already seen $400 million in fertiliser that was procured but never delivered,
payments to Sakunda Holdings of millions of dollars between June and August of
this year which doubled the money supply and caused the exchange rate and
inflation rate to spike.
“These actions have consequences. There are so many
scandals where public resources have been taken, drugs have been diverted from
the public health system, Zinara scandal where millions have been syphoned from
the organisation paying for small things like paying for hair dressers and
personal gyms for Zinara officials. That’s the real sanction on the people of
Zimbabwe.
“The biggest challenge with the Zimbabwe government is
that it has not implemented the reforms it campaigned on. If it does that, the
prospects are good for meeting the conditions of Zidera. This government needs
to begin to take steps to do that.
“Having a big rally and a concert on Friday does not
accomplish that goal and spending $4 million on that when you can spend that
money on salaries for teachers or doctors, buying drugs for hospitals and
fixing roads, these are better ways to use the money,” said Ambassador Nichols.
