Zimbabwe sanctions no longer a hidden issue – RBZ official

THE recent elections in Zimbabwe have exposed the extent of the sanctions regime that the Zimbabwe government has been talking about all these years, said a senior Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe official who spoke to the Zimbabwe Guardian on condition of anonymity.

“The government has been telling people that the sanctions crippling Zimbabwe are not only targeted at individuals, but the whole country,” said the official adding that the recent elections had exposed the ‘evil nature’ of Western governments who claim to be concerned about ordinary Zimbabweans, but are encouraging their companies to withdraw from the country.

“These countries bully African governments into adopting their own policies and when they don’t this is what you get. If TESCO withdraws from Zimbabwe it hurts the ordinary person, who is supposed to be helped by these sanctions.”

The official also pointed out that Zimbabwe’s ‘goodwill’ had been damaged on the international scene and many companies were reluctant to do business with the country.

He also pointed out that the tourism industry, one of Zimbabwe’s highest foreign currency earners had been hard-hit by the negative perception encouraged by Britain and the U.S.

“The tourism sector has suffered the most as many travel alerts have been issued by these countries. Zimbabwe remains a safe destination and the travel alerts issued have nothing to do with conditions on the ground,” said our source.

“We hear of accidents everywhere where the Brits travel to, but never Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean people are welcoming and very friendly and the country has a lot more to offer than most countries ion the region.”

The source also attacked Western governments for threatening to impose sanctions on British companies with interests in Zimbabwe. He asked: “Are these targeted sanctions as well? Barclays Bank’s withdrawal from Zimbabwe will hurt thousands of account holders who have accounts with the bank. How about all those businesses that secured loans from that bank and people who had private investments and shares?”

“The West should just come out in the open and say what exactly they are trying to do and not hide under the banner of targeted sanctions,” our source concluded.

Zimbabwe has been under sanctions from U.S. and the European Union. Although they have often been referred to as targeted sanctions on government officials, they have also included freezing of balance of payments support for Zimbabwe and withdrawal of donor money.

The most conspicuous withdrawal was by the Danish Development Agency which used to fund agriculture (to the tune of US$13,9 million); transport (US$48 million); health (US29,7 million) a year. This has all dried up. The Swedish government used to fund education (to the tune of US$13,9 million), and roads and infrastructure development (US$15,1 million) a year.