Chronicle Editor
The economic sanctions whose dire impact our people are grappling with were imposed at the turn of the century at the instigation of Britain.
The leadership of that country was unhappy that our government had embarked on the land reform programme to address the skewed land ownership structure that had its roots in British colonisation of Zimbabwe. The first group of Britons who came to annex our country in 1890 — the so-called Pioneer Column — received payment for that task in form of huge tracts of fertile land. This entailed forced removal of indigenous blacks from their ancestral land. As more Britons came to our country, demand for agricultural land grew, thus more blacks were forcibly removed from their land. This meant that most of the farmers in our country before Independence and 20 years after were of British stock.
Efforts by the Government from 1980 to 2000 to forge consensus with the British to correct those historical wrongs failed. So when the Government decided to employ the revolutionary approach to land reclamation, the British government, with its historical connection to Zimbabwe and the fact that most land-owners in our country were of British extraction, was angry. The then British government of Tony Blair, a Labour party Prime Minister, influenced the European Union (EU) and the US to impose sanctions on Harare. They both obliged in 2002 and 2003.
The embargo entails the cutting off of lines of credit for Zimbabwe, punishment by the US government on Americans who dare do business with Zimbabwe and persistent demonisation of our government and country. European and American markets for certain products — among them diamonds, beef and farm other produce — have been blocked too.
Zimbabwe has therefore gone for about 20 years with no lines of credit, with little investment from the West and lucrative markets being closed for some local products. The impact has been enormous.
President Mnangagwa has, since he came to power in November 2017, been engaging and re-engaging the world, including Britain and the US in an effort to normalise relations and getting the sanctions removed.
So when a country which mobilised the West to hit Zimbabwe with the ruinous sanctions begins to discuss the idea of lifting those punitive measures, we get encouraged. Yes, it is still too early to celebrate, but we got good clues from the discussion in the British parliament last week.
Liberal Democratic member Mr Jonathan Oates asked the British government to consider facilitating an international financial bailout package for Zimbabwe in return for enhanced economic and political reforms by Harare.
“. . . the situation in Zimbabwe is now absolutely desperate,” said Mr Oates.
“Does the minister agree that, in addition to the restrictive measures against individuals who (are alleged to) abuse human rights and continue to loot the country, we also need a positive offer to give hope to the Zimbabwean people in their struggle for political and economic justice? Will the government, therefore, work with our European and other international partners to agree on an economic rescue package — a Marshall Plan — that would be made available to any Zimbabwean government who met specified criteria.”
While Lord Oates is an opposition politician, he got the support of a ruling Conservative representative, David Howell who acknowledged that Zimbabwe was indeed under sanctions. This is an important admission as Britain, the EU and the US have over the years been strongly rejecting the reality that their measures are indeed sanctions on Zimbabwe.
“Could my noble friend say a little more about the workings of EU and American sanctions, which, as the noble Lord, Lord Collins, just pointed out, are being increased at the moment?” asked Mr Howell.
“I know the intention is that they should hit entities and officials, and maybe they are doing so, but there are suggestions that one outcome is that this is making the food situation even worse for many innocent people. Can he explain how sanctions are working and whether we are satisfied with how they are operating?”
In response, Deputy Leader of the House, Mr Frederick Richard Penn Curzon, who is also a Conservative representative, acknowledged the need for such a bailout adding that the UK would review its position on sanctioning Zimbabwe at the end of the year.
We think it is important that some in the British political establishment, and more crucially in the ruling Conservatives now agree that indeed, Zimbabwe is under sanctions. That, in our view, is key. That acknowledgment must serve as the starting point for discussions to eventually result in the sanctions being removed. The conversation on the bailout is good as well. Hopefully the discussion will continue at various levels with the package materialising.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Deputy Minister David Musabayana expressed the Government’s delight that there is a growing constituency within the British establishment that is open to normalising relations with Zimbabwe. The removal of sanctions and provision of the bailout is unlikely to occur overnight.
However, the admission by some in the UK ruling class that Zimbabwe is indeed under sanctions which the British campaigned for is welcome as is the discussion in their parliament last week for a possible economic rescue package for Harare.
Online Reporter