DURING a discussion forum on a local radio station on Monday, MDC secretary for elections Jacob Mafume and Zanu PF Harare District Coordinating Committee chairman Goodwills Masimirembwa expressed diverging views over the issue of sanctions imposed on the country by the United States and its western allies.
“The illegal sanctions imposed on our country are hindering the growth of the countries’ economy and we will not be able to improve the economy if the sanctions remain,” Masimirembwa said.
Masimirembwa said the US and European Union were demanding that the land reform programme be reversed first before sanctions on the country could be removed.
Beginning 2000, the government embarked on a land reform programme, taking away commercial farmland from mostly white farmers in what authorities said was aimed at addressing skewed land ownership patterns occasioned by British colonialism.
“It is said that sanctions are targeted at individuals. No, they are not targeted at individuals. They affect all Zimbabweans so the sanctions must go,” he said.
But MDC secretary for elections Mafume said sanctions were not affecting the country, remarking that the socioeconomic meltdown Zimbabwe was going through was a result of poor governance, corruption and asset stripping, among others.
“The sanctions are targeting individual who have been committing atrocities, stealing elections and those violating human rights,” Mafume said.
“We cannot blame sanctions, but the government which is full of corrupt people who serve only their interests,” he added.
Mafume went on to argue that the closure of companies such as the Cold Storage Commission, near collapse of Air Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority were all about corrupt tendencies by those in government, including former and current Cabinet ministers.
“The government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa must respect humans rights, the media, including election outcomes for a better future for our country,” Mafume added.
