{"id":8814,"date":"2024-03-05T07:03:36","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T07:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/03\/05\/zimbabwe-us-slaps-fresh-sanctions-on-president-mnangagwa-and-other-leaders\/"},"modified":"2024-03-05T07:03:36","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T07:03:36","slug":"zimbabwe-us-slaps-fresh-sanctions-on-president-mnangagwa-and-other-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/zimbabwe-us-slaps-fresh-sanctions-on-president-mnangagwa-and-other-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe: US slaps fresh sanctions on President Mnangagwa and other leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe\u2019s President Emmerson Mnangagwa for corruption and human rights abuses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The order also affects other senior leaders in the country \u2013 blocking their assets in the US and barring them from unofficial travel there.<\/p>\n

The new sanctions replace a broader programme that was introduced two decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to witness gross abuses of political, economic, and human rights,\u201d the White House said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe targeting of civil society and severe restrictions on political activity have stifled fundamental freedoms, while key actors, including government leaders, have siphoned off public resources for personal gains,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese illicit activities support and contribute to a global criminal network of bribery, smuggling, and money laundering that impoverish communities in Zimbabwe, southern Africa, and other parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, meanwhile cited \u201cmultiple cases of abductions, physical abuse, and unlawful killing\u201d in Zimbabwe that had left people \u201cliving in fear\u201d.<\/p>\n

The White House said it was \u201crefocusing and elevating its efforts to hold accountable the individuals and entities that are responsible for this exploitation\u201d.<\/p>\n

As well as Mr Mnangagwa, the\u00a0US also sanctioned 10 other people and three businesses.<\/p>\n

Those on the list include First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri.<\/p>\n

Various other senior security officials, including members of Zimbabwe\u2019s national police and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), are also targeted \u2013 as are businesspeople found to have facilitated state corruption.<\/p>\n

They include presidential advisor Kudakwashe Tagwirei, his wife and two of their businesses.<\/p>\n

All other people that were previously sanctioned by the US\u00a0and are not on the new list have had their restrictions lifted.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Zimbabwean government, Nick Mnangagwa, described the lifting of the old sanctions programme as a \u201cgreat vindication of President Mnangagwa\u2019s Foreign Policy\u201d and called the new tariffs \u201cillegal\u201d.<\/p>\n

Farai Muroiwa Marapira, a spokesman for Mr Mnangagwa\u2019s ruling Zanu PF party said the president\u2019s \u201cpolicy of being a friend to all and an enemy to none and having our doors open to all has yielded bittersweet results\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the president, the first lady and senior officials remain sanctioned then Zimbabwe remains sanctioned and burdened by this illegality,\u201d he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n

The US first imposed economic and travel sanctions on Zimbabwe in the early 1990s \u2013 targeting then president Robert Mugabe and dozens of other high-ranking government officials, whom Washington accused of undermining democracy in the country.<\/p>\n

Various countries including the UK and European Union members have also placed sanctions on Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

President Mnangagwa,\u00a0who was sworn in for a second term as the country\u2019s last year, has in the past blamed the economic tariffs for crippling development in the country.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe\u2019s President Emmerson Mnangagwa for corruption and human rights abuses. The order also affects other senior leaders in the country \u2013 blocking their assets in the US and barring them from unofficial travel there. The new sanctions replace a broader programme that was introduced two decades ago. \u201cWe continue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}