Staff Reporter

Former Cabinet Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo has defended the Patriotic Act, indicating that the law was passed to defend and preserve the gains of the liberation struggle.

In a recent interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation Services (SABC), Professor Moyo unpacked the Act for the benefit of those who questioned its purpose.  

He highlighted the need for opposition political parties to stop tarnishing the country’s image through misinformation to western countries, but should instead be calling for the removal of sanctions.

He specified that the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) was the product of the opposition party and its western handlers.

“I assure you there is a mischief which is uniquely Zimbabwean and in Zimbabwean politics that somehow compatriots end up saying I am better off if I go and talk to the United States (US) Senate and tell them that Zimbabwe is doing A B C take measures. ZIDERA is a product of Zimbabweans working in cahoots with the Americans to impose the sanctions,” said Professor Moyo.

Professor Moyo affirmed that the Americans acknowledged that they were tasked to implement ZIDERA on Zimbabwe.

“The Americans on the other hand, they don’t want to be seen waking up on their own and say they are taking up this law. When they argue in their Congress why they have taken ZIDERA, they say we have been asked to do this. We have been approved to do this and they produce volumes and volumes of compatriots making representations of their situation in Zimbabwe,” said Professor Moyo

He also emphasized that the opposition political parties in the region were nationalist compared to those in Zimbabwe. He highlighted that the opposition parties in the region would not advocate for sanctions upon their people, because they respected their countries and their leadership unlike in Zimbabwe, where the opposition parties worked against Government policies and attacked the gains of the liberation struggle.

ZIDERA was imposed on Zimbabwe in 2001 by US and her allies in the European Union (EU) and Britain. The intention was made loud and clear: “To make the economy scream,” and set the people against the then Government of the late President Robert Mugabe.