ZIMBABWE and the United States of America (US) are reportedly in talks to end sanctions, Zanu PF national spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa claimed on Wednesday.
Addressing a Press conference in Harare, Mutsvangwa said the US had approached government over the issue of sanctions.
The country is under US and United Kingdom (UK) sanctions following chaotic and bloody invasions of white commercial farms, human rights abuses, electoral fraud and corruption.
The US imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2001 through the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, to help Zimbabweans in their struggle to effect peaceful, democratic change, achieve broad-based and equitable economic growth and restore the rule of law.
The US and UK maintain that the santions are targeted, while the Zanu PF-led government says they are hurting ordinary people.
“We want Zimbabwe to take its position in the global market, we had a report in the politburo from the Minister of Foreign Affairs Frederick Shava on how the Americans are trying to reach out to us on the sanctions, and how we can find each other. It’s never too late to relent on a wrong policy. We believe the sanctions are illegal,” Mutsvangwa said.
His remarks came after Zanu PF and its Southern African Development Community (Sadc) allies on Tuesday commemorated the Sadc Anti-Sanctions Day, set for October 25 every year.
In a statement, the United States Department of State Sanctions co-ordinator ambassador James O’Brien said the US was regularly in touch with Zimbabwean officials on sanctions.
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"Now, this programme is old, and it’s in part because the difficulties in Zimbabwe have gone on for a long time. So we keep looking at our programme, as we do with all our sanctions programmes. But we’ve been actively reviewing this and we’re also consulting closely with our partners in the region. So the concerns — Sadc has spoken out, the AU, a number of African governments have spoken about what the right approach is to Zimbabwe. My colleagues who work on policy towards Zimbabwe are in regular conversation with them. But we also use those as an opportunity to look at the sanctions programme itself.”
He said early this year, 11 people were removed from the sanctions list because they were either deceased or had been deemed to no longer undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic processes and institutions.
The 11 were removed a month ago, but police Deputy Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba was added to the list.
Other five Zimbabweans that are still on the sanctions list include State Security minister Owen Ncube, Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga, Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Tanzania Anselem Sanyatwe, and business tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei.
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