These illegal sanctions were imposed following Zimbabwe’s Land Reform Programme which sought to correct the colonial injustices by redistributing land that was concentrated in the hands of a few. The USA sanc­tions are under the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Re­covery Act (ZIDERA) of 2001 and the US’ Executive Sanc­tions (Executive Order 13288) of March 2003 renewable on a yearly basis. In 2002, the EU and its allies also introduced its own sanctions on the country. While the EU lifted part of its sanctions in 2014, some still remain.

SADC Heads of State and Government declared October 25 as the day to stand in soli­darity with Zimbabwe against these illegal sanctions when they met in Tanzania in August 2019. Leaders of the regional bloc said that there was a need to take a stand and demand the unconditional removal of the sanctions which have wrecked Zimbabwe’s economy and also negatively impacted on region­al economies.

Sanctions imposed on Zim­babwe by the EU, the USA and their allies, were applied out­side the purview of the United Nations and are, therefore, ille­gal. It is therefore important that the United Nations and its member states, the inter­national community, other progressive countries and regional groups, join Zimba­bwe and SADC in condemn­ing the ruinous and illegal sanctions.

Zimbabwe is suffocating un­der the yoke of these illegal sanctions. They are destroying the economy of Zimbabwe as restrictions are attached in the country’s economic coopera­tion with its partners. Zimba­bwe has not been able to access credit lines from international financial institutions. It has also not been able to trade freely or access international markets for its exports such as agricultural and mineral produce. Interna­tional trading lines that sus­tained the country’s economy and new opportunities were lost due to the sanctions which discriminated the country from trading freely.

Evidently, the sanctions have had a negative impact on Zim­babwe’s once vibrant econo­my, with dampening effects on key productive and export sec­tors of the economy. Given the nexus between economic per­formance and living standards, the sanctions have not spared the vulnerable groups of Zim­babwean society.

The economic warfare waged against Zimbabwe un­der the aegis of these sanc­tions has caused untold suf­fering on the generality of Zimbabweans. The debilitat­ing effects of sanctions on Zimbabwe, accelerated the economic decline experi­enced over the past two de­cades, drove the majority into poverty, and resulted in the flight of skills to the region and beyond. Undoubtedly, the cost of sanctions on Zimba­bwe remains incalculable with irreparable damage inflicted to all and sundry.

These negative develop­ments reinforced each other to affect the provision of social ser­vices in health, education, trans­port and basic infrastructure. It is against this background that the collateral damage inflicted by sanctions on all Zimbabwe­ans, speaks volumes of their de­bilitating effects and the urgent need for their removal.

Within this context, all ef­forts geared at re-orienting the Zimbabwean economy onto a sustainable growth path will remain futile in the face of the deleterious effects of sanctions. These punitive measures have hampered the government’s ef­forts to implement its develop­ment agenda. It is only fair that Zimbabwe be given an oppor­tunity to work in harmony and collaboration with all countries and organizations in pursuit of its national interests without the burden of sanctions.

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