Sanctions against Zim must go! But how?
THE issue of sanctions against Zimbabwe causes a level of cognitive dissonance in my mind. I fully understand why they were imposed in the first place, but I am also firmly persuaded that they are hurting the economy and the common person in general.
I want the sanctions lifted like yesterday, but I realise this would entrench a culture of impunity. Those responsible for the heinous human rights abuses during the violent land grab debacle and the bloody presidential elections of 2008 and each violent election thereafter must be held accountable still.
The sanctions are a slap on the wrist for those who have killed, maimed and presided over this corrupt and repressive political environment. And yet the victims of repression and abuse continue to receive the short end of the stick.
It has become clear that the hardliners in Zanu PF and the military actually profit from the continued sanctions. How else does one explain their impudence to do the needful for sanctions to be lifted and their stubbornness in continuing to behave in the same manner that attracted sanctions?
Sanctions have created an opaque environment that is conducive to high levels of corruption and misdemeanour. The truth is the hardliners in Zanu PF and the military would struggle to survive in a normal, competitive and transparent political and economic environment.
And yet an environment without sanctions is ideal for more freedom to the citizens, increased local and foreign investment and relative prosperity. The majority of the citizens and the economy suffer, while those politically-connected to Zanu PF make a fortune under cover of the sanctions. President Emmerson Mnangagwa and those around him routinely embark on the disingenuous anti-sanctions campaign, while doing nothing to remove the offences that triggered the restrictions.
Read full article on www.newsday.co.zw
https://convowithtrevor.com/ icwt-newsletter-issue-75/
Trevor Ncube is the Chairman of Alpha Media Holdings and the host of In Conversation With Trevor YouTube.com//InConversationWithTrevor