Zim minister added to sanctions list

Friday s countrywide anti-sanctions ’protests in Zimbabwe were meant to be a show of national unity, but a dismal turnout was followed by the dramatic imposition of US sanctions on public security minister Owen Ncube.

Hours after Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa addressed a near-empty National Sports Stadium in Harare, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said it would refuse Ncube entry under a sanctions law that targets gross human rights violations.

“We urge the government to stop the violence, investigate and hold accountable officials responsible for human rights violations and abuses.”

The addition of Ncube means sanctions now target 142 individuals in Zimbabwe for engaging in corruption, violating human rights and undermining democracy. Mnangagwa is the most prominent on the list.

The government spent at least $40m (R585m) on marches throughout the country on Friday and declared a public holiday. “The sanctions have perpetuated the cycle of poverty in our country. No amount of propaganda can spin or sugar-coat this gruesome truth,” Mnangagwa told the crowd.

The US said last week its sanctions were targeted at only 60 entities owned or linked to the individuals on the list. Companies and individuals could apply for removal from the list if they met the requirements, it said. Since 2003, more than a third of the targets had been removed. The US said American companies could apply for licences to do business with the sanctioned companies, adding that Zimbabwe’s economic ruin was due to corruption.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretarygeneral Robson Chere said Mnangagwa was attempting to deceive people by claiming the US and the EU were to blame for the country’s economic and political ills. The Southern African Development Community has backed Zimbabwe’s call for an end to sanctions. —

We urge the government to stop the violence, investigate and hold accountable officials responsible for human rights violations and abuses