President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, George Charamba, said he was not surprised by the United States government’s move to add four Zimbabwean nationals and two Zimbabwean companies to the sanctions list.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it added four Zimbabweans to the sanctions list, among them Mnangagwa’s son Emmerson Mnangagwa Jr. and two companies, Fossil Agro and Fossil Contracting.
The U.S. said the two companies were involved in opaque, multimillion-dollar deals with Zimbabwe’s government.
Charamba, who is Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet (Presidential Communications), said he was not surprised by the latest U.S. designations, saying the move is aimed at crippling Zimbabwe’s economy. He said:
The intention was never to attack individuals, who do not matter anyway in terms of interstate relations.
The intention has always been to cripple the Zimbabwean economy and it’s not fortuitous that they have picked on suppliers of key inputs to a critical sector of our economy, namely agriculture.
They did it before and I can assure you they will do it in future.
Charamba said the U.S. is pushing for a “compliant” Zimbabwe, while Zimbabwe insists on “an independent national policy which is not influenced by foreigners.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. also removed 17 Zimbabweans from the sanctions list, among them, former Finance ministers Ignatius Chombo and Herbert Murerwa. | VOA News