Chigumbu Warikandwa
While the Americans celebrated the official opening of their largest embassy in Africa, the host country of that embassy, Zimbabwe, is reeling under the sanctions of the Americans, what an irony!
And, as a precondition for removing the sanctions, established eighteen years ago, the American government has instructed the Government of Zimbabwe to punish soldiers the US accuses of having shot down civilians on 1 August 2018. The Americans do not know the soldiers either.
Today, the world is still waiting for the prosecution of American soldiers accused of war crimes in Guantanamo Bay. The evidence of abuse is there for everyone to see. Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) has denied accusations levelled against it over the shootings. Nobody has challenged the denial either.
There is something smelly about the American demand for the prosecution of the said soldiers. First, the soldiers did not confirm their hand in the killings, neither did the Motlanthe Commission. Therefore, the Americans are seeking the involvement of a third party that has no locus standi in its brawl with Harare. It is ironic that the Americans’ mismatching demand is being used to bring down 18 year old sanctions using a 9 month old reason.
There are laid down reasons which America said it was slapping sanctions on Zimbabwe for, way back in 2001. Election 2018 does not add to the basket of reasons for the sanctions. If anything, the Americans are attempting to try, convict and sentence the ZNA so it can spring a different set of demands. Sanctions were slapped on Zimbabwe by Washington not because of soldiers. Bringing the ZNA in the sanctions ‘forgiveness’ issue is nothing but a charade designed to continue arm twisting tricks not only in Zimbabwe but other African administrations seeking to establish self determination.
Would any man cooperate with a neighbour who promises to help his family with grain but only after inspecting the man’s wife’s lingerie cabinet? No man worth his name and pride will ever stoop that low. Zimbabwe has its private life to administer without the interference of third parties. If America is interested in lifting its illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe, it must not seek any agreement or dialogue with Harare. In the beginning, there was no meeting between the two prior to the establishment of the sanctions.
Zimbabwe must march ahead with its life and leave America to find its ways around the sanctions. One day Washington will be stranded with the same sanctions in its hand and will find no reason to continue with them. It doesn’t pay Zimbabwe to continue negotiating with a bully.
One certainty is that whatever concession Zimbabwe makes to America, it will change goal posts. This world has 195 countries. America is just one of the many. There are many friends out there. Some of them are desperate for friendships. Let Zimbabwe turn a new page and seek new global partnerships. The Look East policy has results to show for it. Chinese investments and declarations of goodwill in Zimbabwe are too numerous to mention.
On top of looking East, Harare must look everywhere, the West included. Whoever does not want to cooperate with Harare must be left to his whims, after all it’s a right that one chooses who to engage with and when.
For control experiment purposes, were the sanctions to be removed tomorrow, Zimbabwe would never see any notable change in the Gross National Product. America is nobody’s friend and it means no goodwill to anybody. It is the same America and its Bretton Woods establishment that slapped Zimbabwe with uninvited sanctions in the name of the Economic Structural Adjustment Program during the first decade of Independence. That is on record. That program shredded the Zimbabwean economy and it has not recovered since then.
Why really would American foreign policy straddle the right to self actualization for other nations? Is America an international prefect? If it is, who is policing its excesses?
Zimbabwe has opportunities for growth inside the sanctions. It has an opportunity to invest in substitute industries in order to reduce massive reliance on imports. Necessity is the mother of invention. Nobody will ever dream of importing sand in the desert but a borehole rig will be a pricey possession well sought after.
With substitute industries established, they would grow in capacity to outstripping domestic demand. After satisfying domestic demand, the same industries would gun for the export market and compete with America in the same field. Sooner or later, America will be left stranded with its sanctions.
Zimbabwe has everything it takes to produce poultry for domestic and export markets. American sanctions do not change the conditions for production of chickens and eggs either. So, instead of going all the way to the Americas to procure poultry products, Zimbabwe must produce and feed itself and forget about the bully.
I can bet my last cent that the prosecution of the said soldiers would not see America removing sanctions on Zimbabwe. That demand is just but a delaying tactic on keeping the illegal sanctions on. It is now known that picking and sustaining fights is part of America’s foreign policy and it revels in it. America must be ignored. The world will not grind to a halt because of America’s absence from the scene.
