Editorial Comment: Sanctions should be scrapped in total

WE welcome the removal of sanctions on two Zimbabwean banks by the United States of America and call on Washington to totally scrap sanctions on Harare because they are retrogressive and worsen the plight of ordinary people.

The piecemeal approach to lifting punitive measures on Zimbabwe is unhelpful and the US government should repeal the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) if it is serious about normalising relations between the two countries.

Last Wednesday, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac), which falls under the Department of Treasury, issued a notice titled “Update to OFAC’s list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons; Removal of Zimbabwe General License 1”, which announced the removal of Agribank and the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe from the sanctions list.

“The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is removing ‘Zimbabwe General License 1’ from the Zimbabwe page of its website,” read the announcement. “OFAC issued Zimbabwe General License 1 on April 24, 2013 pursuant to the Zimbabwe Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 541 and Executive Orders 13288, 13391, and 13469. Zimbabwe General License 1 authorised all transactions involving Agricultural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (Agribank) and Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ).

“Following today’s removal of Agribank and IDBZ from the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons, a license is no longer required to engage in transactions with those entities,” said OFAC. The US also removed from the sanctions list late ministers and ruling Zanu-PF party members Amos Bernard Muvenga Midzi and Sikhanyiso Duke Ndlovu as well as Stanley Sakupwanya who was at one time Zanu-PF’s Deputy Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged. Cde Ndlovu’s wife, Rose Jaele, was also removed from the list as was a private company, Ndlovu Motorways.

Following the review, 98 individuals and 66 entities related to Zimbabwe remain on the US hit list. The United States embassy in Harare confirmed the development and admitted that shackling the two institutions, like many other key bodies and individuals, was detrimental to Zimbabwe.

“These banks provide services to under-served, disadvantaged populations in Zimbabwe and serve unique development functions and important economic roles in agricultural and infrastructure finance. Their removal is consistent with the US effort to support inclusive economic development and assist the people of Zimbabwe,” said Nicole Finnemann, deputy public affairs officer in response to inquiries from our Harare Bureau.

Sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West have cost the country an estimated $40 billion and we urge the US and other European Union nations to reconsider their hardline approach to the country and pursue policies of re-engagement instead of confrontation.

Since 2013, Zimbabwe has been making steady progress in reforming its institutions and the process is ongoing. There is a free and vibrant independent press, a multi-party democratic political system and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission recently unveiled a biometric voting system meant to ensure transparency in the voting process.

ZEC will engage international experts for implementation of the new voting system for the 2018 general election. The biometric system will scan for either fingerprints or the iris and as part of the electoral modifications, Zimbabwe will for the first time use polling station-based voting as the country seeks to engender greater transparency and dispute-free elections.

The country has also been engaging multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to honour its obligations. There are ongoing changes in the civil service with the government implementing a rationalisation exercise meant to cut costs and reduce the huge wage bill.

The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment regulations have been clarified to reassure investors of the security of their outlays and Zimbabwe has been courting various countries both in the Far East and the West for investment. The country is therefore complying with some of the demands of the West for the lifting of sanctions.

If the US and other countries have been serious about monitoring Zimbabwe’s progress in implementing political and economic reforms, then they would have long lifted sanctions on the country.

The fact that two attempts by US Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma to repeal ZDERA were never taken to a vote by the American lawmakers points to a country still keen to effect regime change in Zimbabwe.

This is because as along as ZDERA is in place, efforts to revive the country’s economy will be hamstrung by some of its conditions.

The Act, passed in 2001, enjoins the US Secretary of the Treasury or any US executive director of each international financial institution to “oppose and vote against” any extension of a loan credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe.

It also prohibits any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the US or any American international financial institution.