SANCTIONS WAR: Mnangagwa Can Avoid Mugabe’s Ruinous Path
16 December 2017
Kennedy Kaitano | It is very sad that progressive Zimbabweans are losing out on opportunities because of the path former President Robert Mugabe chose for the country, a path which Comrade Emmerson Mnangagwa has the opportunity avoid for the country, and we all hope that the new President will do all he can to ensure that Zimbabwe is accepted back into the international community.
Zimbabweans have lost on opportunities such as the Commonwealth Scholarship fund which many of our fellow African countries have benefited from since the Mugabe Government’s decision to pull out of the Commonwealth of Nations. There are man more opportunities that we continue to miss out on, and it is time the new President seriously addresses the situation.
A more recent sad case is the turning down of Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda’s nomination for the Cable News Network (CNN) Hero Award which, a competition in which citizens of voided countries are not eligible to participate as reported by The Herald of 15 December 2017. CNN may determine in its sole discretion at any time during the awards programme that a country is avoided country, and that should send the signals to The President that he still has a long way to go in order to improve Zimbabwe’s image abroad.”
But the recent utterances by himself and his colleagues at the just ended Zanu PF Congress proves we still have a long way to go before the country can be removed from the list of voided countries. Comrade President spoke with a forked tongue in respect of election violence, where he sent a message his supporters that they should worry about attacking the opposition when it is as weak as it is at the moment “President Mnangagwa says the party has been revived and the party faithful should desist from violence during the 2018 elections as there is no opposition to talk about”
His colleagues Christopher Mutsvangwa and Chief Fortune Charumbira declared that against provisions of the constitution, the army and chiefs will campaign for Zanu PF in elections planned for 2018.
The country will continue to be classified as a voided country with such irresponsible statements and positions from the President and his aides.
It is unfortunate my sister Nyaradzai has been disqualified from the awards but hope Zimbabwe will soon return to legitimacy and she will have her turn. What I admire about her, as reported by the Herald, is that she said it is those responsible for countries being labelled as voided countries should be the one to be penalised “I also felt angry that I was being penalised for crimes committed by others. Any call for sanctions must be restricted to ensure that sanctions are targeted and apply to those who abuse rights and should not extend to ordinary citizens”.
For sure, I support her call for sanctions to be restricted to those who cause them.