‘Sanctions produce Zim billionaires’
MOSES MATENGA
Sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West have produced billionaires and multimillionaires with links to the ruling elite hence the subtle support on the measures by those with links to the ruling Zanu PF party, an opposition leader has said.
MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora said while the opposition has vehemently spoken against sanctions and wanting them to be lifted, many in Zanu PF were acting in a manner that attracted the measures as they are making billions of dollars from sanctions busting opaque deals.
Sanctions were imposed on Zimbabwe by the West in response to what they perceived as an unjust land reform programme in the beginning of the new millennium.
The sanctions have stayed for over two decades with the United States saying they will only be removed if the ruling government addresses the human rights violations and end corruption.
“We do not want sanctions and we have advocated for their removal,” Mwonzora said.
“Zimbabweans are experiencing first-hand the duplicity of Zanu PF. In one breath they speak against sanctions but they act in favour of sanctions.
“The decision makers want sanctions because they make opaque money out of sanctions. These sanctions have produced billionaires and multi-millionaires.”
Zanu PF has however rubbished Mwonzora’s claims saying sanctions have destroyed the country and must go.
The European Union has lifted sanctions against Harare with several regional and international blocs also joining hands to call for those that remain sanctioning the country to stop.
A United Nations Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, Alena Douhan, visited Zimbabwe in 2021 and produced a report that exposed sanctions for the humanitarian situation obtaining in the country affecting mainly women and children.
