Jonathan Moyo had “Damascus Moment” on sanctions: Mzembi

LONDON – Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi says current Information Minister Jonathan had a “Damascus Moment” that saw him revise his opinions on targeted sanctions that were slapped on Zimbabwe by western countries.

Mzembi was a recent guest on Nehanda TV and was challenged to explain why his government was hiding behind sanctions as an excuse for the collapse of the economy when a cabinet colleague like Moyo had been previously dismissed the sanctions argument as “mere propaganda.”

“It was Jonathan Moyo before his Damascus moment, because 6 years later he was the same Jonathan that eventually captured the manifesto for Zanu PF which placed theoretically a $42 billion bill on the European Union (EU). I am putting it at around $100 billion in terms of the cost to the Zimbabwean economy.”

Asked if he was having difficulty accepting that Moyo was probably telling the truth since he was no longer on the ‘feeding trough’ and benefiting from Zanu PF patronage, Mzembi said “It is easier for me to accept his Damascus moment which he has put in writing.”

An article written by Moyo in May 2006 attacked “the dire poverty of Mugabe’s speech at the opening of the second session of the sixth parliament’ and said the anti-sanctions mantra was just propaganda.

Moyo wrote, “For example, Mugabe claimed, as part of his new propaganda line, that the economic suffering in the country is being caused by so-called illegal economic sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States and some white members of the Commonwealth.

“But to show that this claim is just propaganda, Murerwa’s (Finance Minister) fiscal policy statement did not address the so-called illegal sanctions at all. This is odd. When, as the head of state, Mugabe identifies a particular issue as the cause of the country’s economic woes, it stands to reason that his Finance minister should prioritise and systematically address that issue.”

Commenting on the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) in the United States Moyo said although it was ‘objectionable’ its provisions “cannot be said to be illegal either in terms of United States law or international law.”

“If there was any illegality in terms of international law, the government of Zimbabwe would have by now taken the matter up with the appropriate international bodies with the relevant jurisdiction. The fact that no such thing has happened or will happen shows that the mumbo jumbo from the Zanu PF government about the so-called illegal sanctions is cheap propaganda.”

Moyo went further to argue that “despite spirited attempts to attribute the present economic turmoil to the so-called illegal sanctions, all available indications suggest that the sanctions issue is indeed nothing but propaganda. That is why there is no response to it either in the fiscal or monetary policy.

“Yet Mugabe and Murerwa understand that the sanctions talk is pure Zanu PF propaganda for mobilising political support from the masses by seeking to make them believe that their suffering is due to economic sanctions imposed by imperialist foreigners and not a result of the failure of their government,” he added.

Another person who has trashed the sanctions argument is former Finance Minister Simba Makoni. He said the sanctions imposed on the country were only targeted at a few individuals.

“What sanctions? The travel ban on President Mugabe? And the freezing of assets, whatever they are? Do you know that today, all the platinum we are producing is being sold to the West?

“About 70 percent of the tobacco that we produce is being sold to Philip Morris and other Western countries? The little horticulture products that we still can produce are going to Amsterdam?

“The few goods that we manufacture, such as shirts, we sell to Germany, America and other countries. If you look at the statistics of our trade with the EU today, our trade with the US today, it is growing. How could it grow if there were sanctions?” he said.

Mzembi was asked about Makoni’s views and he responded by saying Zimbabwean goods ended up in Europe because of sanctions busting.

Last month the European Union lifted its 12-year suspension of direct financial aid to the government of Zimbabwe, imposed after allegations of rights abuses by President Robert Mugabe’s administration.