Published by the government of Zimbabwe
29 October 2009
Harare — Finance Minister Tendai Biti has broken ranks with MDC-T and has been advocating the lifting of the illegal sanctions that the West imposed on Zimbabwe, documents at hand show.
The documents authored by Minister Biti, who is MDC-T's secretary-general, recognise sanctions especially the US sanctions law, the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act as a major outstanding issue which must be addressed before the economy can develop.
He, however, abrogates the MDC-T of the duty to lead the anti-sanctions lobby that he says should be led by a group of "Elders" like ex-US president Jimmy Carter and former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.
Under the Global Political Agreement that paved way for the inclusive Government, MDC-T undertook to push for the lifting of the illegal economic sanctions that they invited at the turn of the millennium.
In a document entitled "Debt and Arrears Clearance Strategy" presented to Cabinet recently, Minister Biti said his proposed thrust would only work if sanctions were busted.
"This strategy will be complemented by the need to repeal the Zimbabwe Economic and Democracy Act (Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act) of 2001, through lobbying for support for Zimbabwe's position in the USA Congress and Senate.
"This could be done by Government approaching such former US Presidents like Jim Carter and Bill Clinton using other luminaries such as J(ohn) Kuffour (Ghana), K(enneth) Kaunda (Zambia) and (J)oaquim Chissano (Mozambique) through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"This should be seen within the context of the Government's overall strategy of busting sanctions through engaging the European Union, the Commonwealth and the USA," said Minister Biti.
MDC-T leaders have refused to admit that sanctions have crippled the economy and Minister Biti's admission marks a significant break from that tradition.
Minister Biti yesterday confirmed that he had presented the document to Cabinet and he becomes the second senior MDC-T member to admit to the reality of sanctions.
Early this month, co-Home Affairs Minister Giles Mutsekwa told a meeting of his colleagues and police chiefs at an Interpol conference that illegal sanctions had negatively affected the economy and the Zimbabwe Republic Police had not been spared.
It is understood that MDC-T's national executive grilled Minister Mutsekwa for making these remarks.
The US sanctions law, among other things, instructs all US citizens sitting on the boards of multilateral lending institutions to oppose any lines of credit or support to Zimbabwe.
The US Treasury has also reportedly instructed some companies not to deal with Zimbabwe, while concerns like Ziscosteel, the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe and ZB Bank are barred from transacting with Americans.
The law also authorises the US Congress to extend funding for organisations opposed to President Mugabe and Zanu-PF.
However, observers have said while Minister Biti's remarks were a step in the right direction, they still fell short of the expectations of Zimbabweans.
Political scientist Professor Jonathan Moyo said the admission demonstrated that President Mugabe and Zanu-PF were right that the main outstanding GPA issue was the lifting of the illegal economic embargo.
Prof Moyo said it also showed that MDC-T was an "unreliable" partner in the inclusive Government.
"This demonstrates that the MDC-T position on sanctions shows a dishonest and unreliable partner who says different things at different times to different audiences.
"For example, (MDC-T leader Morgan) Tsvangirai does not want to use the term 'sanctions' yet Biti's document uses it. (Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office) Gorden Moyo has flatly denied that there are sanctions," he said.
"Biti wants the panel that he is recommending to be set up to do the work that they as MDC-T are supposed to be doing. This vindicates President Mugabe and Zanu-PF's position that sanctions are the only outstanding issue in the GPA.
"It also validates the assessment that MDC-T is hypocritical in its engagement and actions," he noted.
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D_Bokk;
Thank you man!! We take your advice very seriously indeed. We will not allow imperialists to "execute whatever sinister plan they have in mind" - our eyes are always wide open even when we go to bed. More so, because an accomplished sellout is occupying the fourth highest office in the land, we will remain vigilant.
We are aware that they have plans upon plans to intervene (in whatever way possible) in Zimbabwe. Last year, they spread and reactivated cholera and then connived with the gay President of Botswana to bomb our country because of the disease they created way back in the 1970s when they were chemically fighting freedom fighters.
To this end, they trained bandits in the puppet country of Botswana the same way they have done around the world – Contra Bandits against the Sandinistas of Daniel Ortega, Mujahedeen against the Soviets, Iraq Kurds against Saddam and many others too numerous to mention.
They have imposed racist, diabolic, barbaric and ruinous sanctions on the people of Zimbabwe for no other reason than that white invaders should continue occupying our heritage. Elsewhere, they have bombed Iraq and Afghanistan for no other reason than to neutralize Muslims. They were accomplices in the bombing of defenseless Palestinian civilians with chemical weapons.
So, it is true that they have plans to effect regime change in Zimbabwe so as to install a puppet govt in our country. Small as we are, we have resisted and will continue to resist these naked machinations.
Being an American, Cde D-Bokk, you will help greatly by continuing to support our just struggle against imperialism, re-colonization or neo-colonialism. You can rest to assured that we will, to the last man; continue to resist domination be it economic, political or cultural.
The imposed sanctions on some of the Zimbabwean government ministers are meant to force them to follow the rule of law, create a fair constitutional process that will allow free and fair elections. Have those objectives been met yet? If not then its going to be an uphill battle to have sanctions removed. Zimbabwe needs to show the citizens of the free world that it is a true democracy then in turn the free citizens of the world can lobby their government leaders to remove sanctions. There are no shortcuts my dear friends.
Sam, what great posting. There is no way whatsoever that Zimbabwe will succeed or be prosperous with Mugabe on the helm. No way. Zimbabwe was starving and deteriorating LONG before the sanctions against him and his associates. All international lending institutions were open to him, he could travel the world over, his fortunes were not frozen, the whole world was (and still is) there for him to trade, there was no major earthquake to throw the whole state of Zimbabwe into such tumult, why then was Zimbabwe so destroyed? Has Mugabe become a better person, different from pre sanctions? The answer is a resounding NO. He is still the same old ogre only preoccupied with stuffing himself, lawlessness and thuggery, the kind of individual you see approaching your door and you do not answer that doorbell. Lifting of Mugabe's sanctions only means rewarding him for all the dastardly things he has done to his people and no one in their right mind will accord him that, and in turn he will continue the path of destruction and everything as was before the sanctions. The people will be no better off because he has neither changed nor has his governance. The life or death of Zimbabwe clearly lies in Mugabe's hands and he jolly well knows it and as you say Sam, no short cuts.
Kjrs, even after hearing from the horse,s mouth(Tendai Biti), you,re still denying,what a pathetic wreck.
Do you actually believe anything that you read in the Harald? It's filled with so much spin and outright lies that I just ignore it. What they print is not facts or news, merely an opinion about the news --- which is often wrong!
Regardless, spin or not, their opinon needs to be challenged. That's what makes democracy great.
Rafil Mugabe impoverished your country in spite of every lending institution out there long before sanctions against him. Why? Before he was sanctioned what was your inflation rate? What was your unemployment rate? He is just a useless stuffed old prune and without MDC, he is capable of nothing but thuggery. As for your Herald, hearing from a horse's mouth would be more credible.
See all comments (38).
It's good to hear that the MDC-T is coming around and is seeing what has been happening over the past 10 years. I would like to say that everyone on this forum can agree that we all want Zimbabwe to succeed and become prosperous, however I seem to doubt that is the case for all these sanction-deniers who would rather see Zimbabwe starve than admit that the British and their allies share responsibility for this crisis.
These sanctions definitely need to be lifted no questions asked, it is not the United State's place to do Britain's dirty work. Men like Ben Freeth need to stop lobbying DC to intervene even further. What bothers me most is that men like Russ Feingold, which shames me to admit represents my state in the Senate, are also lobbying the Obama administration to increase the intervention not only in Zimbabwe but throughout Africa.
I cannot pinpoint exactly why Washington DC is so intent on increasing the suffering in Zimbabwe, but I can only hope that my country returns to the good old days when we were non-interventionist (pre-WWI) and kicking Europe out of places they didn't belong. Unfortunately, those days are long gone and if Hillary Clinton's recent visit to Pakistan says anything... there's not much hope in them returning anytime soon. And to add another 'unfortunately' to the list, I'm having a hard time finding rational people here [in the US] who also support this viewpoint... most are too busy having "happy thoughts" to bother to ponder the consequences for what's happening right now in their government.
But I have to admit, the evil forces were smart in whom they chose to lead the charge. What better man to subjugate Africa than one who is the son of an African? All I can say to Africa is to keep your eyes open... don't give them an excuse to execute whatever sinister plan they have in mind.