By Gift Mashoko
Zimbabweans, the SADC region, other organs and countries joined hands on the 25th of October calling for the removal of the illegally EU-US-imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe. The US camp responded with conceit and added State Security Minister Owen Ncube to the sanctions list based on unsubstantiated claims of human rights abuses.
What human rights violations have Minister Ncube perpetuated one may ask? That is one pertinent question that even the Americans themselves have no response to. As far as everyone knows, Minister Ncube minds his own business and does his Ministerial duties professionally and efficiently.
Of late, the US has been making decisions on Zimbabwe based on unfounded allegations in its bid to pile up pressure on the Second Republic. One is reminded of the banning of our diamonds alleging that forced labour is being used. The US Harare embassy even distanced itself from the allegation admitting that no proof was available of such an occurrence.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Nick Mangwana said USA brands itself a fair country yet everything we have seen regarding the sanctions issue has been nothing but obstinate arrogance. He went on to call upon people to check Minister Ncube’s travel history to see whether the US has ever been part of his prime destinations. The US is blinded by its hatred of the ZANU PF Government and apparently it will stop at nothing to have its regime change agenda come to fruition.
The USA is the biggest human rights violator but they are too blind to see their own faults. All they see are other people’s faults. They are the biggest racists, with videos of white police officers manhandling black suspects, but who dares call them to order. The US administration has for long been killing civilians in Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan among other countries and the questions still remains as to who is sanctioning President Trump and his American counterparts. What hypocrisy! The late South African President Nelson Mandela once said, “If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world it is the USA.”
On the other hand Zimbabwe is a very small country which has always cherished its peace and unity for the US to continue being fixated on it. How many human right abuses are being perpetuated in Saudi Arabia and the US keeps mum? Who does not remember the death of the Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of the Saudi Arabian officials at their embassy in Turkey and the US pretended to “see no evil, hear no evil”? What double standards.
Honestly speaking the US has no evidence to pin Minister Ncube to the sanctions list. They latest move is done to spite the Zimbabwean government and spurn the re-engagement hand extended by the Second Republic. The US does not in any way care about the Zimbabwean people, Zimbabwe is being punished for upsetting the status quo, taking back her land from their kith and kin, the whites. Yes it`s our land and we took it back. The white people had grabbed it from the black people and we had to take what was rightfully ours. How can they want to get rich and prosper at our expense? We, the black Zimbabweans are as human as they are and they should let Zimbabwe be.
It is however surprising to see some individuals celebrating Minister Ncube and Zimbabwe being sanctioned by the West. How can one truly celebrate their country being sanctioned? They have no idea how much the ordinary Zimbabwean is suffering as a result. The US has and is conditioning Zimbabweans to think that the Government is failing when in actual fact they created these conditions we are in, making people blame their Government. Now they are celebrating the US igniting a flame on Zimbabwe not knowing that they will also burn as a result.
The US should stop considering herself the overseer of other nations and mind its own business, learn to look at their own country and clean their house before they look at and even consider interfering in other countries businesses.
The US should just lift the sanctions which they placed on Zimbabwe and let the country chart its own destiny. Long live sovereign Zimbabwe.
