Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Will MDC-T denounce sanctions?

Will MDC-T denounce sanctions?
Frank Dangarembizi — Opinion
Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:40:00 +0000

DEAR EDITOR — The media has been awash with calls for the lifting of sanctions that have hurt the masses in Zimbabwe. The disastrous effects of sanctions cannot be overstated.

Angola, South Africa, the African Union, among others called for an end to the sanctions against Zimbabwe. Even the vocal Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan and former US President Jimmy Carter, were an inch short of mentioning the word “sanctions” in their call for the international community to support Zimbabwe.

In contrast, the Movement for Democratic Change Party (Tsvangirai), which in less than two weeks, would be in an all-inclusive Government with Zanu PF, has failed to condemn the disastrous “not so smart” sanctions on Zimbabwe.

The debate over whether sanctions exist or not can no longer be entertained anymore. Many of the problems bedevilling Zimbabwe today are a result of the biting sanctions that are making our economy ‘scream’ We have already ‘crashed and burned’ as a country because of the sanctions.

An MDC-T official said recently they cannot call for an end to the sanctions in Zimbabwe because they were not responsible for imposing them in the first place and because they could not influence countries to change their foreign policy on Zimbabwe.

We all now wait with bated breath to see if the MDC-T party will still say the same thing when they assume control of the Ministry of Finance, as envisaged in the Global Political Agreement. We hope they will find it easy to control that ministry with no access to credit lines and all the ‘badwill’ that comes with the package.

We also wait to see how they will pump in millions of dollars into the ailing economy when the West is not only incapable of aiding Zimbabwe, but also unwilling to do so.

Frank Dangarembizi
London, UK

Labels: SANCTIONS

posted by MrK @ 8:15 PM