The Zimbabwean government has reacted after the US added the president’s son to the sanctions list for corruption and human rights abuses.
Zimbabwean officials have spoken out about the impact of the recent sanctions on president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son. According to them, the sanctions are hurting the country’s economy. However, the US does not agree. Instead, they have called corruption and wrong priorities the problem.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added four Zimbabwean nationals and two Zimbabwean companies to the sanctions list. The Son of Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa Jr. is one of them. Seventeen individuals were removed from the list.
Speaking about it, the Spokesperson of the Zimbabwe presidency, George Charamba, said he was not surprised by it. He said, “The intention was never to attack individuals, who do not matter anyway in terms of interstate relations,” he said. “The intention has always been to cripple the Zimbabwean economy, and it’s not fortuitous that they have picked on suppliers of key inputs to a critical sector of our economy, namely agriculture. They did it before, and I can assure you they will do it in future.”
He accused the US of pushing for a “compliant” Zimbabwe. He maintained that the country continues to be “an independent national policy which is not influenced by foreigners.”
