The United States Embassy in Harare says blaming sanctions on the country’s economic woes is a way of scapegoating and diverting attention from real issues on the ground by the ruling party Zanu PF.
This comes as Zimbabwe commemorates the Anti-Sanctions Day which was adopted at the 39th SADC Summit that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in August 2019.
At its Dar es Salam meeting, SADC designated the 25th of October of each year as the day of solidarity with Zimbabwe against sanctions imposed by some western nations and the United States.
Posting on Twitter Monday morning, US said the current economic crisis is a result of mismanagement and corruption.
“Blaming sanctions is a convenient scapegoat to distract the public from the real reasons behind Zimbabwe’s economic challenges – corruption, economic mismanagement, and failure to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law.
“Failed economic policies and corruption, not sanctions, hinder Zimbabwe’s economic growth: Billions of dollars have been lost due to decades of corruption and harmful economic policies which have culminated in the current economic crisis. Zimbabwe has had both prosperous and difficult years during the life of the targeted sanctions program. Implementation of economic and political reforms are the key to improving Zimbabwe’s trajectory,” said the embassy
Zimbabwe was put under sanctions after the US enacted the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) of 2001 while EU had its European Union Restrictive Measures, first introduced in 2002.
The Zidera and the EU restrictive measures have received mixed opinions from Zimbabweans with the opposition telling Zanu PF to end human rights abuses in order for sanctions to be removed.
This year’s celebrations come at a time United Nations (UN) special rapporteur Alena Douhan is in the country on a 10-day mission to assess the impact of Western imposed sanctions on the country.
