President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s initial stance when he assumed office that Zimbabwe cannot moan about the restrictive measures imposed by Western countries in perpetuity while the economy burns showed a person who knew what needed be done to fix this country.
Mnangagwa, who had just taken over from his mentor Robert Mugabe, said he would pursue economic and political reforms that would help extricate Zimbabwe from the basket of pariah states.
He said he would pursue a policy of re-enagegement to end Zimbabwe’s isolation that was caused by the rampant human rights violations and alleged rigging of elections under Mugabe’s regime.
Mnangagwa never kept any of those promises and Zimbabwe is in a darker spot than it was during his predecessor’s rule. He has used the law and at times brute force to close down the democratic space.
His opponents are routinely arrested on trumped up charges and detained for long periods without trial. Torture and other barbaric tactics are used to silence dissenters.
He has not fared any better on the economic front. Zimbabwe is saddled with a US$21 billion debt because an arrears plan predicated on economic and political changes has not taken off since Mnangagwa’s regime is not interested in the reforms.
The regime’s reluctance to organise free and fair elections has also kept it out of the Commonwealth as progressive nations are not willing to be associated with such mediocrity.
Those are precisely the reasons why Zimbabwe’s international isolation has not ended and not sanctions.
Over the years, the United States and the European Union have revised their restrictive measures to a point that arguing that Zimbabwe’s economic progress is being held back by sanctions should be considered intellectual dishonesty.
The US early this year ended its sanctions programme on Zimbabwe and introduced new restrictive measures targeting 11 individuals, including Mnangagwa, whom it accused of corruption and human rights violations.
On the other hand, the EU now only maintains an arms embargo after removing most of its targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The UK also has a travel ban and asset freeze regime in place against security chiefs accused of human rights violations.
Yet Mnangagwa’s government still finds it necessary to channel resources towards what it calls an anti-sanctions campaign.
Countries that are properly sanctioned by the West such as Russia, Iran and Cuba do not moan as much as Zimbabwe does, but expend their energies on developing their economies to withstand the restrictive measures.
Zimbabwe must take a leaf from these countries and Zanu PF must stop trying to hide its failures behind the sanctions. That posture potrays a ruling party that lacks leadership and is bereft of progressive ideas.