The United States is reported to have extended sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe despite the country having a new leadership after Robert Mugabe resigned last year.
NewsDay reported that highly placed government sources have said that the US sent a diplomatic note to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Sibusiso Moyo stressing that current sanctions would be extended.
More Zimbabweans have been placed on the US’s sanctions list with the possibility of a review only after elections later this year.
Some of those placed on the sanction list by the US include minsters sworn in recently to join President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s cabinet.
The US also claimed that that Mnangagwa’s administration was a “product of a military coup”.
“The US is very clear that Mnangagwa came to power through a coup although the authorities in Harare have done everything in their power to avoid this word (coup). It was also indicated that the general elections expected in July will be the benchmark on which the sanctions will be reviewed,” the News Day source was quoted as saying.
In January this year some European countries signaled their willingness to lift sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe during the Robert Mugabe era for almost two decades.
State-owned Herald newspaper reported that the European Union countries are considering the possibility of the lifting the sanctions following recent political changes in the southern African country.
The paper quoted the honorary consul for Zimbabwe in Spain, Jose Maria Camallonga as saying that “The lifting of the sanctions would mean a substantial boost to Zimbabwe’s economy, especially in terms of foreign investments. Once the sanctions have been lifted and reforms are under way, Zimbabwe can start to attract businesses to carry out investment and projects in numerous sectors such as mining, tourism and infrastructure”.
Zimbabwe suffered major economic retrogression following sanction imposition over claims of human rights abuses and poor democratic systems under former President Robert Mugabe.
Source: Africafeeds.com
