Anti-sanctions protest flops; United States insists only 11 Zimbabwean top officials and not 16 million citizens on embargoes list

Part of the handful protestors that participated in the poorly-attended campaign
THE march against sanctions imposed on top government officials and their henchmen scheduled for Harare this Friday was a monumental flop.

The Zanu PF government staged a protest at the U.S. Embassy in Harare, but the event was marked by a poor turnout with the few that turned up voicing disapproval of the targeted sanctions.

While the Harare protest failed to gain traction, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and government officials were in Bulawayo launching an online petition against the restrictive measures, which he said are hurting ordinary Zimbabweans.

Addressing the gathering in Bulawayo, Mnanagawa said sanctions have negated Zimbabwe’s progress by restricting trade.

“It is a well-documented fact that the unjust sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe continue to have far reaching consequences across the strata and lives of our people.

“Sanctions are strangling our economy, undermining our right to self-determination and compromising the achievement of the collective development aspirations of our motherland, Zimbabwe,” Mnangagwa told Zanu PF supporters.

“Further they have limited our ability to trade freely. Restricted access to international financial support, stifle investment, reduce our ability to adequately invest in social services. This has, in turn, negatively affected the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens,” the 82-year-old leader added.

Ahead of the Anti-Sanctions Day marked yearly on October 25, the U.S. Embassy launched a series of online adverts countering the government’s narrative on the economic embargoes imposed on the ruling elite by the West.

Online google adverts countering the government’s position on the sanctions are awash stating that contrary to the government, “11 not equal 16 million” are on the sanctions programme.

The U.S. embassy said corruption, not sanctions, was responsible for the country’s current malaise.

Zimbabwe was slapped with sanctions by the U.S., Britain and the European Union in early 2000s in response to the violent seizure of land from white farmers by the administration of then President Robert Mugabe.

In March this year, U.S. President Joe Biden partially lifted the measures but maintained the grip on Mnangagwa and his inner circle accused of shrinking the democratic space and perpetuating human rights abuses.