THE new US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Pamela Tremont is unfazed by anti-sanctions protestors who have been camped at the embassy in Harare for over five years now, saying the group is there "just for show".
The protestors under the Broad Alliance Against Sanctions (BAAS) pitched tents at the US Embassy's main entrance and have been living there since March 2019 maintaining they will only leave once sanctions have been lifted.
In March 2024, US President Joe Biden announced the end of the Zimbabwe sanctions program which had been imposed following violent land seizures from predominantly white commercial farmers across Zimbabwe, without compensation in the 2000s. The 2003, 2005, 2008 Executive Orders blocked all properties of those deemed or purporting to act directly and indirectly on behalf of any of those on America's sanctions list as per its International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
After ending the sanctions program on Zimbabwe, the US tightened restrictions on a few individuals and entities through the Global Magnitsky Act which allows the US executive branch to impose visa restrictions and targeted sanctions on foreign government officials responsible for gross human rights violations and corruption.
Those who have remained on the sanctions list include President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Auxillia Mnangagwa, VP Constantino Chiwenga, Owen Ncube, Kudakwashe Tagwirei and CIO Deputy Director Walter Tapfumaneyi.
Despite targeting a few individuals, the government has maintained they affect the ordinary citizens and should be lifted.
Speaking to local news editors, Tremont said she had not engaged the anti-sanctions protestors adding "They are for show".
"We hear a lot about the sanctions from the government already without having to engage protestors," she said.
She further dismissed the notion by Zimbabwean authorities that the sanctions are "illegal" saying there "is no law against the US regulating its own banks and preventing them from being complicit in corruption".
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe is making preparations for the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day on October 25 which will run under the theme "Embracing Innovation towards Vision 2030:The relentless fight against illegal Sanctions".
