Samuel Kadungure
News Editor
AS the October 25 SADC Anti-Sanctions Day draws agonisingly close, the eastern gateway of Zimbabwe pulses with a quiet, defiant resolve, bearing the heavy, enduring scars of unilateral economic restrictions that continue to throttle regional prosperity.
With the regional bloc standing shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity against punitive measures imposed by Western nations, the ZANU PF provincial leadership in Manicaland has renewed calls for immediate and unconditional relief, arguing that the sanctions are not merely political tools, but instruments of mass economic suffocation affecting ordinary citizens across all sectors of society.
ZANU PF provincial chairman, Cde Tawanda Mukodza, said the illegal sanctions have systematically undermined the nation’s developmental aspirations, choking vital industrial revival and frustrating the economic empowerment of youths and women.
“For over two decades, our people have lived under the suffocating weight of unilateral economic sanctions that were unjustly slapped on our country. These measures were never about governance or democracy, but were designed to punish a sovereign people for daring to reclaim their land and resources. As we approach October 25, the message from Manicaland and the entire SADC region is unequivocal – these illegal shackles must fall immediately,” said Cde Mukodza.
Cde Mukodza said the embargoes have stunted foreign direct investment, delayed critical infrastructure overhaul, and restricted access to international financing lines essential for public health, agricultural mechanisation, and small-scale enterprise growth, among others.
Expanding on this unwavering stance, Cde Mukodza emphasized that grassroots mobilisation across every district remains vital in exposing the developmental sabotage caused by the embargoes, noting that local party structures are fully aligned with national efforts to promote self-reliance, value addition, and agricultural productivity despite external economic hostility.
Weighing in on the relentless propaganda and misinformation campaigns often deployed to mask the true socio-economic devastation wrought by the restrictions, ZANU PF provincial spokesman, Cde Phillip Guyo, emphasised that grassroots communities remain acutely aware of the external sabotage holding back national progress.
“When hospitals struggle to procure specialised medical equipment or when local industries face arbitrary barriers in global supply chains, the ordinary citizen bears the brunt. Yet, instead of breaking our spirit, these malicious economic weapons have forged an unbreakable bond among our people. SADC solidarity is our shield, and our homegrown economic resilience under the Second Republic is our sword,” said Cde Guyo.
Reinforcing the imperative of ideological clarity and youth participation, ZANU PF Makoni District Coordinating Committee chairman, Cde Kudzi Chipanga, stressed that the younger generation must remain vigilant against foreign machinations, highlighting that true economic independence requires unwavering discipline, active defence of national sovereignty, and total support for structural transformation agendas championed under the Second Republic.
He pointed out that financial exclusion continues to stifle the creative and entrepreneurial potential of Manicaland’s vibrant youth population, cutting them off from global digital banking corridors and international tech markets.
“Innovation thrives in an open, fair global economy. When our young software developers, agricultural entrepreneurs, and manufacturers are locked out of global payment platforms and denied fair trade access simply because of an arbitrary political label, it is an indictment of international justice. October 25 is not just a calendar date – it is a global rallying cry for economic liberation,” said Cde Chipanga.
Adding a regional trade perspective, economist, Engineer Farai Mutasa, stressed that the illegal embargoes actively sabotage regional integration frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by penalising financial institutions that facilitate legitimate trade with Zimbabwean entities.
“You cannot talk about seamless regional integration or industrial corridors when correspondent banking relationships are arbitrarily severed and trade financing is criminalised.
‘‘The sanctions regime is an extraterritorial assault on SADC’s collective master plan for industrialisation. Our collective survival depends on localised value addition, home-grown capital mobilisation, and unyielding regional solidarity,” said Engineer Mutasa.
As SADC member states prepare to amplify their unified voice on October 25, Manicaland stands as a living testament to both the crippling cost of isolation and the indomitable power of self-reliance, proving that no amount of external pressure can derail a nation’s march toward Vision 2030 and genuine economic sovereignty.
Manicaland stands defiant as SADC Anti-Sanctions Day looms
