Political Reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said that the illegal sanctions imposed by the West on Zimbabwe will not bring the country to its knees as the Second Republic is determined to succeed despite the negative effects of the embargoes.

Addressing thousands of people in Rutenga yesterday, the President said local puppets of the West invited the sanctions to collapse the economy, but reiterated that his administration has continued to devise strategies to insulate the country from the effects of these unjustified embargoes.

“As the Second Republic, we said Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo (a country is developed by its citizens.) We said we will eat what we produce, we will eat what we kill that is why my Government came with interventions to cushion its people from effects of climate change such as Pfumvudza, ” said the President.

President Mnangagwa said that it was a fallacy that sanctions were targeted as they were affecting every citizen of the country.

“They say the sanctions are only targeted at some individuals and that is a lie. They are targeted at the key pillars of our economy making it difficult for us to retool our industries or even buy new machinery such as tractors, but of course we get some of these things from those who are friendly to us. But don’t be fooled that the sanctions are only targeted at some few individuals,” said the President.

President Mnangagwa called for the unconditional removal of the sanctions as they have caused untold suffering to the people of Zimbabwe.

“We are saying remove them unconditionally and let us all be heard saying that sanctions must be removed and we have even invited the UN Special Rapporteur, Ms Douhan, to assess the impact of these sanctions,” said the President.

Meanwhile, yesterday President Mnangagwa commissioned the Marula /Mapfura Processing and Value Addition Factory built by the National Biotechnology Authority of Zimbabwe at Rutenga growth point. The President reiterated that no outsiders will come and develop this country, hence the Second Republic’s resolve to continuously pour funding towards research and innovation to solve challenges confronting the nation.