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President Mugabe

The announcement by the United States that it is extending its illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe by another year did not come as a surprise given its failed attempt to effect an illegal regime change in the country.

The US, which spent millions of dollars sponsoring regime change programmes under the cover of non-governmental organisations, is bitter that it failed to achieve what it wanted. Zanu-PF won resoundingly the 2013 harmonised elections much to the chagrin of the White House which spent millions of dollars propping up the opposition MDC-T which is in disarray following another split.

In extending the heinous embargoes, Washington made outrageous claims that President Mugabe was a threat to US foreign policy. In a notice titled “Continuation of national emergency with respect to Zimbabwe” published by the White House on March 3, US President Barack Obama claimed that the actions by the government of Zimbabwe “contributed to a deliberate breakdown of political and economic instability in the southern African region”.

“The actions and policies of these persons continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States,” said Obama. He said for this reason, the national emergency declared on March 6, 2003 and the measures adopted on that date, on November 22, 2005 and on July 25, 2008 to deal with the emergency, must continue in effect beyond March 5, 2015.

The US is at pains to justify extending the illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe hence the outrageous claims that President Mugabe is a threat to US foreign policy. The sanctions are now about President Mugabe and not the government of Zimbabwe. What Obama is telling the world is that he is angry that President Mugabe is still in office and for that Zimbabwe must be punished.

Is it not the democratic right of Zimbabweans to choose who should preside over their governance issues? It is strange and mind boggling that the US is of the view that it should decide on behalf of Zimbabweans who should be the President of this country.

The African continent is very happy with President Mugabe’s leadership hence his being elected to chair the African Union and he also chairs Sadc which Obama claims is under threat from the government of Zimbabwe’s actions.

The US by extending the illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe is continuing its bullying tactics of intimidating smaller nations. The US through USAid as part of its illegal regime change agenda availed more than $850 million to anti-government organisations in Zimbabwe between 2011 and 2014 but the project failed dismally hence these desperate measures.

Zimbabweans should not be hoodwinked by the US which pretends to be championing their rights when in fact it enjoys their suffering. Is it not a fact that the illegal sanctions are hurting ordinary Zimbabweans?

The US imposed the illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2003 after Britain internationalised its bilateral dispute with Harare over land and since then has been renewing the sanctions every year. The US has no basis to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe and should forthwith stop its unwarranted bullying tactics which have no place in a civilised world.