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signatures from its citizens.
The programme would now include the political-cum-social, economic and legal aspects of the anti-sanctions drive.
President Mugabe in March this year launched the anti-sanctions campaign that was followed by provincial and district launches across the country.
The programme saw Zimbabweans across the country voluntarily signing the National Anti-Sanctions Petition to show that sanctions were illegal and affecting the ordinary people.
SANCTIONS
The European Union and the United States, who claim that the sanctions are targeted at Zanu-PF leaders, tried to play down the campaign insisting that it was an exercise in futility.
Political analysts, however, said the anti-sanctions drive had caused a lot of anxiety among the EU states and their US counterparts.
Zanu-PF national secretary for information and publicity Cde Rugare Gumbo yesterday said Zimbabwe was ready to take the programme to another level.
“We would like to thank the nation for rallying behind the programme, signing the petition and we would like to urge Zimbabweans to continue signing the petition,” he said.
Cde Gumbo said the drive would now be taken to the political level.
“We are going to mobilise Zimbabweans to stage demos against the countries that have imposed the illegal sanctions against the country.
“We would also like to petition these countries and sponsor resolutions and conferences at all levels against the illegal embargo,” he said.
The Zanu-PF spokesperson said the next level would also see Zimbabweans publicising the de- vastating effects of the sanctions against the peo-ple.
“We would also continue to mobilise other social interest groups like churches to show the world that the illegal sanctions have had a devastating effect on the populace.”
He said there was need to highlight the effects of the sanctions on all people – including the disabled, orphans and the under-privileged.
The economic forum of the anti-sanctions campaign, Cde Gumbo said, would look at the sanctions’ effect on industry and commerce.
“The sanctions have had a devastating effect on our industries, infrastructure and various other aspects of the economy. Now that the decision has come from the more than 2,5 million people who signed the
petition, Government has a mandate from the people to act against the illegal embargo,” he said.
He said Government would now move with vigour to push on with the Look East Policy as a sanction busting measure.
“This was just a programme mooted through Government policies but it now has the mandate of the people as an effective sanctions busting measure,” Cde Gumbo said.
He said the signatures provided a seal for Government to start moving with speed to implement more programmes to empower the people.
“Programmes such as the indigenisation and empowerment would empower the people and their communities so that they would not suffer the effects of the sanctions.”
Cde Gumbo said the programme would also promote projects at community and national level against the sanctions.
“The signatures would also provide a platform for Government to start negotiations with such organisations as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to provide the necessary funding for projects to assist
Zimbabwe get through the challenges cause by the sanctions,” he said.
The legal part of the anti-sanctions petition campaign, Cde Gumbo said, would seek to prove the illegality of the sanctions.
The signatures, he said, would be turned into a legal challenge in both Zimbabwean and international courts.
“These signatures would also be presented at such forums as the Sadc, Comesa, African Union and the United Nations which can turn them into resolutions against the illegal sanctions.
“We can even use them at the International Court of Justice,” he said.
Cde Gumbo said the programme would seek to mobilse and dramatise the social costs of the illegal sanctions and put pressure on countries and organisations that have imposed the illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Political analysts said the National Anti-Sanctions Petition campaign added voices that demonstrated and brought out the falsehoods that sanctions are targeted.
“These could push Government to turn the signatures into economic programmes targeted at busting sanctions,” a Harare-based analyst said.
Meanwhile, The Herald understands that Zanu-PF is also putting together the best brains in Zimbabwe and abroad to come up with actionable legal instruments against the illegal sanctions.
The party is also said to be working at options of using the signatures to lobby various UN bodies and international organisations and mount serious legal challenges against the sanctions.
Cde Gumbo confirmed that they would engage international lawyers to look at the criminality of the sanctions against Zimbabwe and its people.
In the National Anti-Sanctions Petition Campaign, Zimbabweans append their names, signatures and identification number to register their protest to the West and demand an immediate end to the widely discredited embargo.
Zimbabweans including the business community, church groups and other sectors have spoken strongly against the illegal sanctions.
The Africa Union, Sadc, Comesa and the Non-Aligned Movement have all slammed the illegal sanctions that are the major outstanding issue on the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement signed by parties to inclusive Government in September 2008.
The MDC formations and their Western sponsors have, however, steadfastly refused to take part in the campaign insisting that the sanctions were targeted.
Bongani Ndlovu