The Thokozani Khupe led MDC-T has said all economic saboteurs must face the music saying continuous blaming of sanctions for economic collapse by the country\u2019s leadership was not helpful.<\/p>\n
It said a cocktail of past disastrous economic policies and \u201cour own acts of omission and commission\u201d are to the root cause for the meltdown.<\/p>\n
In a statement to coincide with the second SADC Anti-Sanctions Day commemoration on 25 Sunday, the opposition lamented the suffering of the people and workers who are bearing the brunt of sanctions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhist we call for the unconditional removal of sanctions, we also urge the government to address policy missteps and corruption, whose net effect on the economy may exceed the economic impact of sanctions,\u201d Tapiwa Mashakada, MDC-T Secretary for Finance and Economic Affairs said.<\/p>\n
He added \u201cEconomic saboteurs must be brought to book\u201d without naming any.<\/p>\n
Zanu PF is accused of using the sanctions mantra as an excuse for its economic failures.<\/p>\n
The ruling party has always attributed economic, humanitarian and political crises in the country to sanctions which were imposed at the turn of the millennium following the controversial fast-track land reform.<\/p>\n
Some say corruption which is rampant in the country is the leading factor choking efforts to revive the collapsed economy.<\/p>\n
Western states including the United Kingdom, the United States and members of the European Union argue that the sanctions are measures meant to coerce Zimbabwe to return to constitutionalism, rule of law and good governance.<\/p>\n
Mashakada called for \u201cdoubling of efforts\u201d to remove sanctions saying ordinary Zimbabweans are suffering.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a pro-poor and labour backed party, the MDC-T laments the suffering of the people and workers who are bearing the brunt of sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cThe economy is partly hamstrung by sanctions due to restrictions faced by corresponding banks and difficulties in accessing new capital as Zidera gives the United States of America veto powers on the Boards of the main Multi-Lateral bodies such as the IMF and World Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mashakada said respect international law in its governance architecture was key in removal of sanctions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinally let us desist from blaming sanctions for our own acts of omission and commission.<\/p>\n
In calling for the unconditional removal of sanctions we must be honest and accept that some of the economic policies implemented in the past stoked inflation, the budget deficit, currency and exchange rate volatility. Let us fix the issues we control and not just mourn about sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, MDC-T credited itself through its late founding president and former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for a massive reduction of people on sanctions list.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough our contribution to the re-engagement efforts during the GNU (2009-2013), most travel restrictions were removed and to date, less than 3 people remain on the Sanctions travel ban list.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to the wisdom of our late icon Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai who made a clarion call for the removal of what he called \u201call restrictive measures\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mashakada also claimed that his formation \u201cfought\u201d for a new Constitution in 2013 which now provides for compensation for developments on the land through the enactment of the US$3.5 billion Global Compensation Deed signed on 29 July between government and former farm owners.<\/p>\n
The billion-dollar compensation agreement is expected to bring finality the emotive land issue as envisaged by the country\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Thokozani Khupe led MDC-T has said all economic saboteurs must face the music saying continuous blaming of sanctions for economic collapse by the country\u2019s leadership was not helpful. It said a cocktail of past disastrous economic policies and \u201cour own acts of omission and commission\u201d are to the root cause for the meltdown. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":29318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[615,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-29316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-parties","9":"tag-khupe","10":"tag-mdc"},"yoast_head":"\n