SADC intensifies calls for lifting of sanctions on Zim

Harare (New Ziana) – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Wednesday reaffirmed its firm solidarity with Zimbabwe in calling for lifting of all illegal Western sanctions imposed on the country for decades.

The United States passed the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) in 2001 that cut all lines of credit from multilateral institutions.

The European Union (EU) and other Western countries have also imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in an attempt to force it to reverse its land reforms under which government compulsorily acquired excess white-owned farmland to resettle landless blacks.

At the 39th summit in Tanzania in 2019, SADC leaders adopted a resolution declaring 25 October of every year Anti Sanctions Day in support of calls for the illegal embargo on Zimbabwe to be lifted as it affected the whole region.

Since then, SADC states hold various activities in their respective countries on the day, and call for the removal of the illegal sanctions, which have caused enormous economic losses in the country, and forced millions to migrate to neighbouring countries in search of better livelihoods.

In a SADC anti-sanctions statement, President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of the Republic of Angola, who is also chairman of the regional group, said there is growing concern over the impact which sanctions continue to pose on Zimbabwe and the region.

“As a Regional Family, SADC firmly echoes that the targeted sanctions geared at a few individuals in Zimbabwe adversely impact the country. It is now over twenty years since the imposition of these targeted sanctions-two decades marred by the inability of the people of Zimbabwe to fully achieve their potentials across various sectors as a nation,” he said.

Sanctions have continued to damage Zimbabwe’s image and limit its potential for access to financial and capital market, President Lorenco said.

“The extent of this block to Zimbabwe’s socio-economic growth on the livelihood of its people represents a modern-day atrocity which we, as the SADC Family, strongly feel is an impediment that leaves one of our Members behind from our common quest for regional integration, growth and prosperity.” he said.

President Lorenco urged the international community to factor the report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the measures on the enjoyment of human rights, made by Alena Gouhan, on her visit to Zimbabwe which proposes the lifting of sanctions within the ambit of key principles of international law.

“An unconditional lifting of sanctions shall create the conditions for Zimbabwe and the SADC region to consolidate its collective efforts to spearhead national and regional growth and substantively develop in critical areas of good governance, human rights, and social cohesion. It is, therefore, incumbent on all parties concerned to do our part in re-writing the discourse for the Government and people of the Republic of Zimbabwe,” he said.

He said at a time where global insecurities pose food security and other pertinent challenges to the African continent and SADC region, the sanctions on Zimbabwe create an ‘alarming’ double-imposed threat to its peoples’ livelihood and survival.

“As SADC, we remain welcoming to support through the necessary means, the earnest lifting of sanctions on the Republic of Zimbabwe and trust that the humanity we share as the global community shall guide the relevant move in this direction by all relevant actors through tangible actions,” said President Lorenco.

New Ziana