Africa Says: Lift Sanctions Against Zimbabwe Now!

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, addressing the MECAWI forum entitled: "African-Americans Speak Out for Palestine" on January 31, 2009. (Photo: Alan Pollock)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Africa Says: Lift Sanctions Against Zimbabwe Now!

AU summit supports unity government and a reconstruction program

by Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor
Pan-African News Wire
Commentary

Recent political developments surrounding the formation of a national unity government in the southern African nation of Zimbabwe provides greater impetus for the peoples of the continent and the world to demand the immediate lifting of economic sanctions against the country.

A stalled agreement reached during September of 2008 to create an inclusive government of national unity was finally implemented after weeks of discussions led by South Africa. The agreement is scheduled to take effect on February 13.

Zimbabwe, which has been the target of a well-financed campaign of destabilization over the last decade, has been severely affected by the foreign policy imperatives of the western imperialist countries and their surrogates who have created serious social and humanitarian challenges for this nation which won its independence from Britain in 1980.

Results from the African Union (AU) summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during the week of February 1, clearly urged the United States, Britain and the European Union to end its economic blockade against Zimbabwe. The African Union, the continental organization of independent states, has worked for years to ensure a political solution in Zimbabwe that would maintain the stability of the country and guarantee its future as a sovereign state.

According to the Zimbabwe Herald on February 2: "The 53-member African Union executive council on Saturday, (January 31) adopted a resolution calling for the immediate lifting of the American and European Union-led economic embargo, saying the international community should instead support Zimbabwe's inclusive Government."

In response to the current situation in Zimbabwe, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Dr. Jean Ping of Gabon, said that: "I think that everybody today should help Zimbabwe to rebuild its economy because an agreement has been reached."

Ping hailed the efforts of the regional 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), under the leadership of South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, for its efforts in mediating the inclusive governmental agreement in Zimbabwe between the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriot Front (ZANU-PF) and the opposition parties, the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and the MDC-Mutambara (MDC-M).

Outgoing AU Chairperson and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said during the summit that: "The situation looks promising, it is a step forward." Numerous messages of support and praise poured into the summit after South African presidential spokesperson, Thabo Masebe, also reiterated the call for the rapid lifting of sanctions, making the point that "this stage is critical in terms of achieving political stability and the first step towards the economic recovery of that country.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe arrived at the AU summit on January 31 and participated fully in the discussions on February 1 which were designed to create a federal continental government for Africa. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was elected as Chairperson of the AU, is urging the continent's leaders to establish the federal system, an idea which has been advocated since 1958, when Ghana's first Prime Minister and leader of the post-independence liberation struggles on the continent, Kwame Nkrumah, hosted the All-African Peoples Conference in Accra.

Gaddafi's proposal for a continental government would be based on three pillars, namely foreign affairs, defense and trade. Some African states have endorsed the idea of the continental government, while others have taken a more gradualist approach that would see the creation of a federal union government over an extended period of time.

The decision to openly debate the creation of a federal union government was reached at the last AU summit held in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt during July of 2008. According to the Zimbabwe Herald: "Those countries advocating for a Union Government have set an ambitious goal of uniting the continent and sharing its wealth in a manner that benefits all Africans."

Meanwhile, President Mugabe held an hour-long meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the AU summit. Other statesmen within the so-called "Elders Group", including former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, called upon international humanitarian organizations to support Zimbabwe as ZANU-PF and the other opposition parties plan to share power.

The Challenges of Reconstruction

Over the last decade, the nation of Zimbabwe has been seriously effected by the imposition of economic sanctions and the corporate media vilification programs that sought to justify the imperialist attacks on this independent African state. At present unemployment is high inside the country and hyperinflation has rendered the national currency virtually worthless.

A recent outbreak of cholera resulted from the inability of the government to import the necessary water purification chemicals that prevent water-born diseases. Civil servants, military personnel and other workers are faced with tremendous hurdles in securing basic food stuffs and transport services.

Although members of the Elders Group welcomed the inclusive government, they cautioned that the economic reconstruction of Zimbabwe would require monumental efforts from both those inside the country as well as the international community. It has been reported that approximately 2,500-3,000 people have died from cholera over the last several months and some 60,000 may have been infected.

"This is an important step towards ending the political impasse in Zimbabwe, said the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, "but it is not a guarantee that Zimbabwe's distress is over."

"Rebuilding the economy and ending the people's suffering will take much more work on the part of all Zimbabweans, regional leaders and the international community."

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, in a more cautious approach, said that: "This political agreement is far from perfect, but political life involves taking risks. Talking it down will not improve the situation for Zimbabweans, it will only prolong their agony."

An International Appeal for Immediate Relief

Zimbabwe has been subjected to a campaign of destabilization and underdevelopment since the ruling ZANU-PF party, at the aegis of the revolutionary war veterans, instituted a comprehensive land reform program for the country. The national liberation war during the 1960s and 1970s had been fought by the African people to regain the land and political independence stolen by the British colonialists beginning in the 1890s.

During the year 2000, thousands of war veterans and their supporters marched on to European settler-controlled farms and seized the land. The Lancaster House agreements of 1979 that ended the revolutionary war and brought Zimbabwe independence, did not institute the land reform that was the basis of the liberation struggle.

However, the imperialist nations of the United States and Britain had promised to provide assistance to the European settlers so that they could hand over land to the African people who had been displaced during the colonial era. This aid from the western states was never forthcoming, and consequently, the ZANU-PF Government had no choice but to support the land seizure, which beame known as the Third Chimurenga.

Consequently, the opposition MDC was formed and backed financially and politically by the imperialist states. Nonetheless, with the creation of an inclusive national unity government, the imperialist, even based on their own logic, have no legitimate reason to continue the sanctions against Zimbabwe. This has been the cry of the African continent emanating from SADC and the AU.

Like Gaza in Palestine, the impact of the blockade in Zimbabwe has been devastating to the civilian population. The UK-based Overseas Aid Commission (OAC) announced on January 31, that it would send assistance to both Gaza and Zimbabwe.

An AFP article published on January 31 said that: "Zimbabwe and Gaza have both been chosen to each receive a grant of $150,000 dollars from Jersey's Overseas Aid Commission (OAC). Sanitation packs, rehydration and food parcels will be sent to Zimbabwe where more than 60,000 have cholera."

The article continues by emphasizing that: "Food and medicines will be distributed to civilian victims in Gaza of the fighting between Israel and Hamas. The OAC said there had been long discussions with authorities in Zimbabwe and Gaza to make sure the aid would get to the people who needed it."

Anti-imperialist and anti-war activists in the United States and other western capitalist states must demand that the sanctions be immediately lifted against Zimbabwe. In addition to this demand, there should be an appeal for the transport of medicines, medical personnel and supplies, bottled water, food and other humanitarian assistance to the people of Zimbabwe.

Also there needs to be a fundamental change in Africa policy emanating from U.S., UK and the European Union. The Obama administration garnered the support of the majority of the people in the United States because of the mass sentiment opposing racism, economic exploitation, militarism and military intervention.

It is the obligation of those that supported his election, as well as all people of conscience, to demand that not only sanctions be lifted against Zimbabwe but that a new foreign policy orientation be developed that emphasizes people-to-people contacts, non-intervention and the respect for the independence and sovereignty of African states.
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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire and has been following events in Zimbabwe involving the humanitarian situation and the creation of an inclusive government inside the country.
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