The United States has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa for corruption and human rights abuses.
Other senior leaders in the country will have their assets in the US blocked and the sanctions also bar them from unofficial travel there.
The new sanctions replace a broader programme that was introduced two decades ago.
In a statement the White House noted that
“We continue to witness gross abuses of political, economic, and human rights.
“The 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.”
“These 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.”
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, cited “multiple cases of abductions, physical abuse, and unlawful killing” in Zimbabwe that had left people “living in fear”.
The White House said it was “refocusing and elevating its efforts to hold accountable the individuals and entities that are responsible for this exploitation.”
The US further sanctioned 10 other people and three businesses, alongside Mnangagwa.
Those on the list include First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri.
Other senior security officials, including members of Zimbabwe’s national police and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), are also targeted – as are businesspeople found to have facilitated state corruption.
They include presidential advisor Kudakwashe Tagwirei, his wife and two of their businesses.
Meanwhile, all other people previously sanctioned by the US and are not on the new list and have had their restrictions lifted.
A spokesman for the Zimbabwean government, Nick Mnangagwa, described the lifting of the old sanctions programme as a “great vindication of President Mnangagwa’s Foreign Policy” and called the new tariffs “illegal”.
The US first imposed economic and travel sanctions on Zimbabwe in the early 1990s – targeting then president Robert Mugabe and dozens of other high-ranking government officials, whom Washington accused of undermining democracy in the country.
Various countries including the UK and European Union members have also placed sanctions on Zimbabwe
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