Staff Reporter
The outgoing Malawian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Her Excellency Ms Annie Kumwenda says Malawi fully supports the call for the removal of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West and its allies.
Her sentiments come four days before the SADC region marks the Anti-Sanctions Day on the 25th of October, which was set aside to amplify the call for the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
Briefing the media after paying a courtesy call on Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Ambassador Fredrick Shava yesterday, the outgoing Ambassador says sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe are also affecting neighbours, hence the need to call for their unconditional removal.
“We have also talked of the imposed sanction. As Malawi government we continue to stand with Zimbabwe to ask those that continue to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe and the people of Zimbabwe and children of Zimbabwe to uplift those sanctions that are also affecting neighbouring countries. Malawi is feeling the impact of the sanctions and stand by SADC in calling for the lifting of the sanctions,” she said.
Besides the issue of sanctions, Ambassador Kumwenda whose tour of duty ends after six years in the country says that the meeting also discussed different areas of cooperation that are strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.
“We also discussed different areas of cooperation including the signed MOU yesterday in the agricultural field,” she said.
While addressing the 355th Ordinary Session of the Politburo in Harare recently, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe were illegal, unjustified, counterproductive and continue to hinder the people of Zimbabwe from enjoying their fundamental human rights, urging the people to continue resisting the use of sanctions by the West and its allies.
Meanwhile, The United Nations Special envoy, Alena Douhan who is currently in the country to assess the impact of the sanctions imposed on the country says the unilateral sanctions affect the people’s right to good health.
Posting on Twitter handle recently, Douhan said, “Unilateral sanctions affect the right to health of the most vulnerable groups including those suffering from severe and life threatening rare skin condition, epidermolysis bullosa.”
Douhan, a U.N. Special Rapporteur on Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on Human Rights and Professor of International Law who is on a 10-day to assess the impact of sanctions, will present a public report on her visit to Zimbabwe to the UN Human Rights Council during its 51st session in September 2022.
The United States enunciated deliberately tailor-made sanctions within the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) to prevent US companies from undertaking business engagements with their Zimbabwean counterparts. Similarly, the European Union (EU) the United Kingdom (UK) and their Allies such as Australia and Switzerland have also targeted numerous Zimbabwean entities with a view to making the country’s economy suffer.
