Zimbabwe says it won’t yield to demands by a prominent British opposition MP for Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to step down.

Writing on Twitter last week Labour MP Kate Hoey said Chiwenga’s removal as vice president and defence minister should be “the very minimum” for Britain, the US and the EU to change their policies on Zimbabwe.

In response to this statement Zimbabwe Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo said: “Kate is a member of parliament in Britain and she has her liberty and freedom of expression, but that does not mean that is the official position of Britain.”

The US, Britian, EU and other Western countries condemned the army over its “excessive use of force”.

Last week, US President Donald Trump signed a new bill that imposes tough conditions for Zimbabwe to meet before Washington will consider lifting its 16-year-old sanctions on Harare.

Sibusiso Moyo called the move “regrettable” but said Harare would still try to engage Washington

He claimed some of the United States conditions had already been met.

“The rule of law, freedom of expression, free and fair elections have already been accomplished in the new dispensation,” he said.