In some shocking recent events – Zimbabweans were on the 3rd January 2020 told that the army will be unleashed on them once they are suspected to have stopped the rain, literally. These utterances are not new, they have been running for a while 37 years since the 4th April 1983 during a time when there were no sanctions against anyone in Zimbabwe; As Emmerson Mnangagwa began making these pronouncements that resulted in the economy crashing badly between 1983 and 1985, 22,000 civilians were killed under the guise of searching for a fictitious armed dissident named Richard Gwesela.
Fast forward to 2018, Mnangagwa launched another crackdown, this time for the purpose of changing election results, all announced on the state broadcaster, ZBC. The Kuwadzana surbub was worst hit, confirmed by medical experts who attended the injured and maimed. 5 months later, he launched another one, during the fuel price protests. A year later he suddenly announces to the Kuwadzana residents that he will redeploy the army once he suspects they are responsible for stopping the rain. In the space of just 2 years, 25 people have been killed by live ammunition in the open streets by military personnel. Scores others have died due to economic mismanagement.
In the midst of all of this, the Donald Trump administration yesterday decided to extend sanctions against Emmerson Mnangagwa and his party Zanu PF citing that the Zimbabwean government has “accelerated its persecution of critics and economic mismanagement in the past year, during which security forces have conducted extrajudicial killings, rapes, and alleged abductions of umerous dissidents.”
BELOW WAS THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PORTAL:
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days before the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13288 of March 6, 2003, with respect to the actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic processes or institutions is to continue in effect beyond March 6, 2020.
In the wake of the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe in November 2017, Zimbabwe’s national elections in July 2018, and President Mugabe’s subsequent death in September 2019, Zimbabwe has had ample opportunity to implement reforms that could set the country on a constructive path, stabilize the southern African region, and open the door to greater cooperation with the United States. Unfortunately, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has yet to signal credible political will to implement such reforms. Indeed, the Zimbabwean government has arguably accelerated its persecution of critics and economic mismanagement in the past year, during which security forces have conducted extrajudicial killings, rapes, and alleged abductions of numerous dissidents.
These actions and policies by certain members of the Government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic processes or institutions continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States. Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13288 with respect to Zimbabwe.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 4, 2020.