President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman, George Charamba, dismisses the United States’s recent action on Zimbabwe sanctions, stating there’s little cause for celebration. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the termination of the Zimbabwe Sanctions Regulations, effective since 2003, by President Joe Biden on March 4th this year.
Charamba critiques the gradual dismantling of what he perceives as an illegality that has inflicted suffering for over two decades. He insists that sanctions must be entirely lifted, asserting, “Sanctions must simply go, in toto. Nothing less will do.”
Despite the lifting of sanctions on most designated individuals and firms, the US imposed new sanctions on 11 individuals, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and three entities under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
Africa Check, a continental fact-checking organization, highlighted that the US’s action didn’t amount to a complete lifting of sanctions due to the ongoing Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act. This act restricts Zimbabwe’s access to funds from global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Quoting US State Department official David Gainer, the report underscores continued US concerns about human rights abuses and corruption in Zimbabwe. Gainer asserts, “Our policy toward Zimbabwe has not changed, but our sanction tools have.” The United States maintains that its sanctions target individuals, not Zimbabwe as a country. However, the United Nations refutes this, arguing that the sanctions adversely affect the country, particularly its vulnerable populations.
