Zimbabwe anti-sanctions lobby seek support from US

HARARE: Anti-sanctions lobby group Broad Alliance Against Sanctions (BAAS) has handed over letters to the American Embassy in Zimbabwe inviting African-American Congressional members to visit the country and witness the negative impact of US imposed sanctions.

"The first letter that we submitted was to the Ambassador, whereby we were asking him to submit the other 66 letters for us to the black Congressional members in a bid to lure them to come to visit our vigil site and see how these sanctions have actually hurt the ordinary citizens in Zimbabwe," Sally Ngoni, Co-founder and Spokesperson of BAAS, told Xinhua news agency.

The letters were handed over to Regional Security Officer at the US Embassy Timothy Corso by BAAS Co-founder and Chairman Calvern Chitsunge, Xinhua news agency reported.

In March 2019, BAAS set up a camp at the main entrance of the US Embassy as a protest against the imposition of sanctions. The group said the camp will only be dismantled if sanctions are lifted.

Ngoni urged African-American Congressional members to voice their support for Zimbabwe's fight against sanctions.

"We are hoping that since we sent the letters to the black Congressional members in America, they are the people with the same background as us. Their origins are from Africa, we are hoping that they will be compassionate with their fellow African brothers and sisters, that is us the Zimbabweans, and actually feel how these sanctions have actually caused pain to the ordinary citizens," Ngoni said.

She added that contrary to the claim that sanctions are targeting a few individuals, they are affecting the whole economy.

"You realise that most companies are actually scared of doing business in Zimbabwe because of sanctions. We have seen many banks being fined for carrying out certain transactions in Zimbabwe by countries like the US," Ngoni said.

She added that the lobby group's efforts have resulted in the removal of some state entities from the sanctions list.

"We have seen a lot of changes, for example, we saw Infrastructure Development Bank and Agribank being removed from the sanctions list," said Ngoni. (IANS)

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