THE United States Senate has recommended that financial restrictions on Zimbabwe and targeted sanctions on Robert Mugabe and his cronies be maintained until there are tangible reforms.
It also proposed that the US should pay salaries and allowances for teachers, doctors, nurses and other civil servants except the police, army and intelligence officers.
This emerged ahead of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington Friday.
Tsvangirai is on a trip to the US, Europe and Scandinavian states to lobby for the removal of financial sanctions and secure aid for the revival of Zimbabwe's shattered economy.
Obama's meeting with Tsvangirai will signal direction in diplomatic relations between the US, Western countries and Zimbabwe which is still reeling from international isolation and economic collapse blamed on President Mugabe's leadership and policies.
Zimbabwe requires US$10 billion for economic recovery, but has so far secured just over US$1 billion.
The US move to pay selected civil servants could spark tension in government.
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The issue has already been raised in cabinet. Zanu PF ministers are opposed to the payment of salaries to some civil servants, except security services, claiming this would divide the public service.
Western governments do not want to pay the police, army and the intelligence service whom they accuse of violence against MDC supporters over the years in their bid to prop up Mugabe's regime.
The US Senate also said in a resolution on Tuesday Washington should provide "increased resources for non-governmental entities to provide assistance and to pay salaries or fees to appropriately qualified people in Zimbabwe to enable progress to be made in the critical areas of education, health, water, and sanitation".
It said the US should provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe, support political and economic reforms, provide financial and technical assistance to the constitutional reform process, urge regional governments and leaders to promote human rights, restoration of the rule of law and economic growth in Zimbabwe.
It said Washington should not lift financial sanctions, targeted measures on Mugabe and his cronies and the arms embargo until there is "demonstrable progress toward restoring the rule of law, civilian control over security forces, and respect for human rights".
It indicated there should be "continuation and updating of financial sanctions and travel bans targeted against those individuals responsible for breakdown of the rule of law, politically-motivated violence, and other ongoing illegal activities in Zimbabwe".
Most of the issues would be sorted out during today's meeting between Obama and Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai yesterday met US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton who described him as "a long-time advocate for his country and its people on behalf of human rights and economic opportunity".
"As you know, he is now in a unified government that is attempting to move Zimbabwe forward into a better future. And I'm anxious to hear about the plans and the work that your government is undertaking and to look for ways that we appropriately can be supportive," she said.
As a build up to the White House meeting, Tsvangirai also met separately with chairman of the US Senate Sub-Committee on Africa, Assistant Secretary of State (Bureau of African Affairs) Jonnie Carson and Republican Senator John McCain, Obama's rival in last year's historic presidential elections.
Tsvangirai also held high-level meetings with the Breton Woods Institutions, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
At the start of his trip to Europe, US and Scandinavian countries, Tsvangirai met Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende at The Hague.
The Dutch told him that they would not provide money to fund Zimbabwe's economic recovery without serious political and economic reforms.
Western countries want reforms on the media, judiciary, civil service, education, health, and police, army and intelligence sectors, as well as institutional framework and culture. They also want a new economic policy and recovery plan.
Besides, donors want a new constitution and free and fair elections as soon as possible.
Tsvangirai said he was not going around with a begging bowl in his hand but was trying to re-engage with financial multilateral and bilateral institutions as well as the international community to support Zimbabwe's economic recovery.
Indications were that Tsvangirai's would have difficulties convincing Obama to shift policy on Zimbabwe.
The tone for the meeting had already been set by the US Senate on Tuesday.
In a resolution, the US Senate said financial restrictions, travel bans and the arms embargo on Zimbabwe, Mugabe and his cronies would remain in place until reforms were executed. This was the same message Tsvangirai got at The Hague.
The US Senate said since Zimbabwe was coming from a background of "pervasive and systematic abuse of human rights, which included unlawful killings, politically-motivated abductions, state-sanctioned use of excessive force and torture by security forces against the opposition, student leaders, and civil society activists", it must reform first before it could get have the sanctions and get money.
It observed because there had not been much reform to stop "ongoing illegal activities" to put Zimbabwe on an irreversible path to democracy, most of the sanctions would remain in place and no money would come.
Tsvangirai said in Washington on Wednesday he would "not gloss over the issues" but make the case to Obama that Zimbabwe's "irreversible" democratic transition merits American support.
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I don't understand how a journalist from Zimbabwe would parrot the western 'targeted sanctions mantra' as if he is unaware that the same economic sanctions are hitting his own mother, father, sister,etc in Zimbabwe..Chimira ndikubayire zanhi..Dumi,, u're a disgrace to our nation..Dumisani, you need to put the interests of your own people first even if u're being sponsored to prop up the embargo becoz,Dumi the sanctions you're trying to gloss over have made innocent people suffer and if u have a conscience u have to rethink & start condemning these ruinous,evil,henious economic sanctions against our innocent fellow zimbabweans becoz zimbabweans, including those in Mdc who called for them, have now started to realise that the sanctions are hitting everyone in zim & the socio-economic damage can eventually be irreparable..Dumisani,You have to put your people's interests first..How can u say 'targeted sanctions on mugabe and his cronies' when banks, mines, industries are being embargoed and thousands of workers are thrown in the streets daily..How can u say 'targeted sanctions on mugabe and his cronies' when imf,world bank and international financial institutions are barring us from accessing lines of credit to repair our people's roads, sewage and water pipes and other socio-economic services..We have to think of our children and our descendants first..What future are they going to have if the sanctions destroy everything???Having said all that, the greatest tragedy would be not to learn from all this as history is bound to repeat itself. My view is, at NO TIME in our lives must it be acceptable for a journalist& any other person to gloss over economic sanctions against his very own country....
Anyway on another note, we will never allow Americans a chance to devide our civil servants in broad daylight like that..Nowhere in the world can aid be given only to a certain section of civil servants while depriving the other sections..This is another american evil ploy to forment unrest amongst our civil servants..They want to use that aid as propaganda..If they are not prepared to provide aid to all civil servants then they can keep their money...
There are many things you do not seem to understand Tacky/Mabizar. Most probably this journalist knows very well there are only targeted sanctions on a list of individuals and not on the state of Zimbabwe as such and he for sure knows the only way out for Zimbabwe, is to get rid of the bloodstained voterigger Mugabe. Do you really think other countries are going to pay the Zimbabwean murderers, abducters, torturers, lying Herald journalists, farm invaders and lunatics like you always commenting nonsense during Herald officehours?
This post was deleted because it contravenes AllAfrica's commenting guidelines.
I can accept this as this money will not go to the government directly and allow Mugabe and the Zanu-pf to take the money and use it for themselves but if this money can be given in a way that there is accountability in how it is used and most importantly it will truly help the people it is intended to help as well as help the country!
The United States will provide $73 million in aid to Zimbabwe, President Obama announced Friday after meeting with Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House. President Obama ( praised Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House on Friday.
President Obama praised Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House on Friday.
"I obviously have extraordinary admiration for the courage and tenacity that the prime minister has shown in navigating through some very difficult political times in Zimbabwe," Obama said.
"There was a time when Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa, and [it] continues to have enormous potential. It has gone through a very dark and difficult time politically."
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe "has not acted oftentimes in the best interest of the Zimbabwean people and has been resistant to the democratic changes that need to take place," Obama said. "We now have a power-sharing agreement that shows promise, and we want to do everything we can to encourage the kinds of improvement not only on human rights and rule of law, freedom of the press and democracy that is so necessary, but also on the economic front."
The U.S. aid will not be going to the government directly "because we continue to be concerned about consolidating democracy, human rights and rule of law," Obama said. "But it will be going directly to the people in Zimbabwe."
In a CNN interview following his meeting with Obama, Tsvangirai said he is grateful for the generosity. "Whether it is humanitarian aid or transitional support, it adds up to the relief that Zimbabwe is seeking," he said.
Tsvangirai said he told Obama he would like the United States to use its global influence to assist Zimbabwe in dealing with the challenges it faces.
Tsvangirai said he understood other nations' reluctance to support the Zimbabwean government, given Mugabe's controversial history.
"I think it's fair," he said. "I understand it, given our history, and I'm not going to defend President Mugabe." But, he noted, the two have agreed to work together and help Zimbabwe progress as a nation.
In remarks with Obama, Tsvangirai said progress has been made by the transitional government, but much remains to be done. "It is the problems of implementation," he said. "... even by the standard of our own benchmarks, there are gaps that still exist." He said he would continue to strive to meet those benchmarks, not for the international community, but because "it gives [the] people of Zimbabwe freedom and opportunity to grow."
The power-sharing arrangement between Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and Mugabe came after contested elections last year.
"Of course we cannot brush away that history, that sad history," Tsvangirai told CNN. But he said he is hoping the country will heal and move forward, and wants even those skeptical of Mugabe to appreciate the transition process.
Asked whether he believes Mugabe should retire, Tsvangirai said "at the age of 85, I think one needs to retire." But, he said, for his own legacy, it's important for him to be thinking about a "dignified exit."
"I think that [the power-sharing government] provides him with this opportunity," Tsvangirai said.
Asked about his relationship with Mugabe, he said, "We don't have to fall in love to work together. But we have accepted that we have made an agreement to have a workable relationship between the two political parties." He said there had been acrimony between the two, but they realized it was not helping the Zimbabwean people.
"We are inspired by people like Nelson Mandela, who had to go for 27 years in jail but still come out and say, 'Let's forget about the past' ..." he said. He and Mugabe have chosen the process of dialogue rather than violence, Tsvangirai said. "Let history judge whether this historic experiment was the right course of action.
Afric35, no need for u to copy and paste news fron other websites, you're wasting space for other people who also want to post their comments here...Anyway,What can we expect from a european with an empty skull apart from bitterness rantings towards President R.G.M and zanu pf for taking what your fellow white settlers had stolen from us that is our land..Just like that pathetic Boer rmkooistra, you think that revenge against the entire country is the way to go...Manje,that indiscriminate revenge is now hitting your fellow settlers in zim who are now being evacuated by their British government as sanctions are taking a huge toll on them &their businesses..
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