Zimbabwe Hit with US Sanctions

Shunned ZIMBABWE The US government this week imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe’s newly reelected president, his vice president and other senior officials, based on their alleged involvement in corruption and human rights abuses in the southern African country, Al Jazeera reported. On Monday, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a series of sanctions targeting three companies and 11 people, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, aimed at “Mnangagwa’s criminal network of government officials and businesspeople.” Mnangagwa and his officials are accused of protecting gold and diamond smugglers operating in Zimbabwe, taking bribes and aiding smugglers in the sale of those precious resources on illegal markets. Gold is the country’s biggest export. The government is also suspected of committing various human rights abuses, including abductions, physical abuse and unlawful killings, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The new measures follow a review by the US Treasury of a previous sanctions program that had been in place since 2003. Those sanctions were imposed after the appropriation of land from white farmers by Mnangagwa’s predecessor, Robert Mugabe. Only those on Monday’s list will be sanctioned. Following the US move, Zimbabwean government spokesperson Nick Mangwana welcomed the removal of the 2003 sanctions, calling them “a great vindication” of Mnangagwa’s foreign policy. However, he described the new measures as “illegal,” adding that as long as the president and others are under sanctions, “we are all under sanctions.” Still, Zimbabwe’s neighbor, Zambia, also welcomed the lifting of the 2003 sanctions, with President Hakainde Hichilema describing the decision as “further evidence that (President Joe) Biden listens to his African partners.”