By Mapozho Saruchera
The United State (US) embassy in Harare was recently at pains trying to push a narrative that the illegal sanctions imposed by its Government were not hurting ordinary Zimbabweans.
In trying to buttress this narrative, the embassy took to the micro-blogging site, twitter to announce that the US does not maintain comprehensive sanctions against Zimbabwe but has targeted only 84 individuals and 56 entities – what a lame explanation.
There is, therefore need to show the Americans the negative effects of their illegal sanctions.
To begin with, the 56 State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) could have made a significant contribution to the economic and social development of Zimbabwe, as was the case with Ireland, had they not been under sanctions – a development which severely curtailed their operations and negatively affected the country’s economic growth. Research has shown that in addition to providing critical infrastructures, early Ireland SOEs played a key role in enhancing skills (including technical and managerial) and entrepreneurship. Thus in short US sanctions dismantled the necessary mechanisms for Zimbabwe’s economic growth – we could be prosperous had it not been for Uncle Sam.
Closely related to the above, some of the sanctioned SOEs, such as the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO STEEL), directly employed thousands of Zimbabweans and supported a significant number in downstream industries in their heydays. Thus, their fall directly affected ordinary Zimbabweans who were rendered jobless.
The sanction induced unemployment brings us to the argument that the punitive measure also led to an increase in the poverty gap, which can be described as the average shortfall of the total population from the poverty datum line. In layman’s terms, the US sanctions created many poor Zimbabweans. Those who were retrenched found themselves reduced to paupers over night as they were not equipped to deal with the adverse effects of the sanctions. However, with hindsight, some of the unemployed would come handy in the Westerners future plans of destabilising Zimbabwe through unjustified political protests as witnessed on 14 January 2019 – what a selfish lot.
Income inequality, which can be described as an extreme concentration of wealth or income in the hands of a small percentage of a population, is another damaging effect which came about as a result of the US sanctions induced unemployment. This impacted ordinary people more as some of the poorest Zimbabweans went from having zero assets to being in debt. Debt can lead to a myriad of other problems such as stress, depression and in some serious cases, even suicide. Some Zimbabweans who are in debt are finding it harder to reach their other financial goals as spending money on debt leaves them with less money for other priorities like saving for retirement or holidays. Many may have to delay their educational goals or feel trapped in a job they do not like simply because they need to pay their bills.
The US sanctions’ negative impact on Zimbabwe’s economic growth has also affected the country’s women to a greater extent. As job opportunities shrunk, Zimbabwean women flocked abroad in search of greener pastures. This has; however, saw a number of them falling prey to human trafficking syndicates which are on record selling Zimbabwean women into prostitution, slavery or exploitation in lands as far as Kuwait. Thus, a worrying developing trend is that the punitive measures are also turning Zimbabwe into a nation of broken people – abused or debt ridden.
Lastly, economic sanctions have a negative impact on the cost of economic growth and reconstruction following their lifting. Thus, even if the US were to lift sanctions on Zimbabwe today, their 18 year stint has already set the Southern African Country more than half a century back in terms of development. Again, catching up with other counties is going to need a lot of money, which might not be readily available, thus putting unnecessary pressure on Government.
It is therefore an insult for the Americans to claim that Zimbabwe’s current economic challenges were a result of many years of harmful policies and not US sanctions. To start with, of the 39 years of independence, Zimbabwe has been able to plan freely for only 21 years before the imposition of the illegal sanctions. Whatever policy put in place by the Government of Zimbabwe before 2001 with potential to yield returns in future was stifled by the sanctions. It is therefore upon the ordinary men and women of Zimbabwe to speak with one voice against the ruinous sanctions.
