Chairperson of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Zanu PF legislator, Kindness Paradza has blamed opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leaders Tendai Biti and Professor Welshman Ncube for ‘bringing’ sanctions to the country.
Visiting a group of Zimbabweans under the name Broad Alliance Against Sanctions who have been camped at the United States embassy in Harare for close to a year, Paradza accused Biti and Ncube of travelling to America sign the Zimbabwe Democracy Recovery Act (ZIDERA.)
“The MDC’s did not come with us here because they do not care and concerned about how this is affecting Zimbabweans. Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube went to America in 2002 to sign for ZIDERA and then sanctions were imposed in 2002 but however they will be involved when we engage these people,” he said.
In an interview with 263Chat, the group’s spokesperson Sally Moyo said the sanctions imposed by the US were targeting all Zimbabweans, rather than the listed names.
“We are still camped at the US Embassy, and we are now on day 348 today (Tuesday).
“We will not go anywhere until our demands have been met, that sanctions should be removed unconditionally.
“We organised this vigil to show the world that sanctions are not targeted at the individuals on the list, but all Zimbabweans,” said Moyo.
Moyo confirmed engaging with the US Ambassador Brian Nichols whom he said told that his government wants Zimbabwe to meet conditions like electoral reforms and human rights abuses.
According to Moyo, Broad Alliance Against Sanctions is a coalition of churches from different denominations, African religions, the Islamic community, six political parties, small-scale farmers, informal traders, the academic fraternity and organisations representing people living with disabilities,
