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The message on Tuesday was loud and clear from Zimbabwe and fellow Sadc countries that the illegal sanctions are unwarranted and must therefore be removed immediately. Zimbabwe was joined by other Sadc countries to commemorate the Anti-Sanctions Day on Tuesday. 

Zimbabweans from across the country took to the streets to express their anger at the continued imposition of sanctions which remain a major stumbling block to efforts to grow the economy and improve the citizens’ livelihoods. 

In 2019, Sadc Heads of State and Government proclaimed 25 October as a day of solidarity with the Zimbabwean people against sanctions. Member states on this day engage in different activities to mark the Sadc Anti-Sanctions Day. Sadc, the AU and the rest of the progressive world are agreed that the illegal sanctions have had devastating effects on the lives of Zimbabweans. 

Sadc has said the lifting of the sanctions will facilitate Zimbabwe’s socio-economic recovery and enable the country to meet its national and regional economic development plans as well as effectively manage its international obligations. 

Zimbabwe has, as a result of the illegal sanctions, been finding it difficult to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) which is key in global rebuilding of economies.  

Apart from discouraging foreign investors from coming to Zimbabwe, the sanctions have seen many local companies failing to retool or get working capital. It is a fact that the sanctions have not only affected Zimbabwe but the entire Sadc region. 

Zimbabwe has been under illegal sanctions imposed on the country by United States of America, Britain and their allies for the past 22 years as punishment for implementing the land reform programmes which corrected the skewed land ownership that favoured the minority Whites. 

Calls for unconditional removal of sanctions against Zimbabwe are becoming louder with each passing day. At the just ended United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) many African leaders called for the immediate removal of the sanctions which they said violate the country’s sovereignty and are a barrier to national development. 

The leaders led by the African Union (AU) chairperson and Senegalese President Macky Sall, said the sanctions are worsening the economic and humanitarian situation in the country. 

President Macky Sall

A United Nations special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Professor Alena Douhan who was in Zimbabwe last year on a fact finding mission, said in her report that the sanctions had exacerbated Zimbabwe’s economic and humanitarian crisis. 

It is unfortunate that we have few Zimbabweans who seem blind to the impact of the sanctions hence are saying the push for the removal of sanctions is no longer relevant. 

The same individuals who are of the view that the push for the removal of the illegal sanctions is no longer necessary, are complaining about lack of jobs as a result of poor performance of the economy. Zimbabwe, as has been stated by Sadc, the AU and other progressive forces, should be free from sanctions to enable it to realise its full potential when it comes to development.