Group camps at US Embassy

Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
A group of seven citizens has camped at the United States Embassy in Harare calling for the removal of the illegal sanctions the country imposed on Zimbabwe and vowed to stay put until they are removed.

The Broad Alliance Against Sanctions has been at the embassy since Friday last week and have urged Zimbabweans to follow their lead in calling for the lifting of sanctions that have crippled industry and cost the country over US$50 billion in the last two decades.

The organiser of the vigil Mr Calvern Chitsunge said the sanctions imposed by the US had proved that they were targeting all Zimbabweans.

“We have organised this vigil to show the world that sanctions are not targeted at the individuals on the list, but all Zimbabweans,” he said.

“We have decided to indefinitely camp at the embassy because we have realised that other forms of protests have failed.

“The sanctions are not hurting those people on the targeted list, but the ordinary and disadvantaged members of our community.”

Mr Chitsunge said a lot of companies countrywide had closed as a result of sanctions as they cannot access lines of credit while hospitals have a shortage of drugs and equipment.

“Those people in leadership positions that they claim to have targeted are not suffering like what the ordinary person is doing. This shows that the sanctions are targeting the whole of Zimbabwe,” he added.

The US government has maintained a sanctions regime against Zimbabwe since 2001 as a direct response to the country’s fast track land reform programme meant to correct colonial land ownership imbalances.