The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Friday backed the US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Brian Nichols after President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government threatened to expel him for alleged political meddling.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Sibusiso Moyo had threatened the diplomat after Nichols commented on Zimbabwe’s anti-sanctions march saying that corruption was the real cause of the country’s economic demise contrary to claims by the government that sanctions had triggered the collapse.
Posting on microblogging site, Twitter this Friday, the US Senate committee chaired by Senator Jim Risch (Republican-Idaho) said:
The US is deeply committed to the people of Zimbabwe. Ambassador Nichols set the record straight that culpability for Zimbabwe’s dire economic situation rests with its leaders, provided the truth about sanctions, and reiterated our strong and lasting commitment to a free and open Zimbabwe.
The development comes when the Mnangagwa-led administration has been pushing its re-engagement agenda following two decades of isolation.
The Western community has since indicated that political reforms were a prerequisite for reengagement saying that they wanted Mnangagwa’s administration to depart from former late president Robert Mugabe’s violation of human rights.