The United States on Monday slapped sanctions on Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other senior leaders, condemning what it said was a relentless campaign of rights violations and corruption.
The sanctions, which will freeze any US-based assets and ban any unofficial travel to the United States, replace a sweeping, two-decade-old sanctions regime against Zimbabwe.
“The changes we are making today are intended to make clear what has always been true: our sanctions are not intended to target the people of Zimbabwe,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.
“We are refocusing our sanctions on clear and specific targets: President Mnangagwa’s criminal network of government officials and businesspeople who are most responsible for corruption or human rights abuse against the people of Zimbabwe,” he said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new measures were part of a “stronger, more targeted sanctions policy” on Zimbabwe as he expressed alarm over “serious cases of corruption and human rights abuse.”
“Key individuals, including members of the government of Zimbabwe, bear responsibility for these actions, including the looting of government coffers that robs Zimbabweans of public resources,” Blinken said in a statement. Mnangagwa, whose party has been in power for more than four decades, was declared the winner of a new term in an election in August that international observers said fell short of democratic standards.
He is the second consecutive Zimbabwean leader to face US sanctions following veteran president Robert Mugabe.
Hopes of a thaw briefly surfaced after Mnangagwa ousted Mugabe from power in 2017, but Western powers and rights groups say that the new leadership has also cracked down on the opposition and protests.
President Joe Biden, in a declaration on Monday, terminated an earlier sanctions programme on Zimbabwe imposed in 2003 under George W. Bush, who had advocated for a broader global push of sanctions on the country under Mugabe.