ZANU PF Wants Law Barring Citizens Who "Invite" Sanctions From Running For Public Office
ZANU PF chief whip Pupurai Togarepi has called for the enactment of a law that prohibits Zimbabweans who call for sanctions to be imposed on the country from running for public office.
Speaking in the National Assembly recently, Togarepi said the laws of Zimbabwe are “too soft” as they allow “sell-outs” and “Judas Iscariots” to participate in elections when they are undermining the country’s sovereignty.
As reported by NewZimbabwe.com, Togarepi made the comments during a debate on the impact of economic sanctions that were imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States of America and Britain. Said Togarepi:
As a country at war, it is unfortunate to have some of our people supporting sanctions, going to these places to ask for sanctions.
I want to remind this House that there was a motion that was moved to say that those who look for sanctions must never participate in the governance of this country.
We are too democratic as a people, too democratic for comfort. Why would we even entertain an election with people who are sponsored to destroy Zimbabwe?
Why would we have an opposition that is totally, clearly and vehemently against Zimbabwe and allow them to participate in a democratic election, when they are sanctioning us?
We are a country at war and there are surrogates of imperialism who come here, go to an election with us, sponsored by the same people, we are too soft.
We have people who died for the freedom of Zimbabwe. Some who have no limbs, some who could not even have kids, others whom we do not even know where they were buried trying to liberate this country.
Somebody goes to the same colonisers to say destroy this population, destroy these people to give life to themselves because they are sell-outs. They are sell-outs, they are Judas Iscariots.
Togarepi said Zimbabwe should no longer allow companies from Western countries to invest in the country. He said:
We continue to engage them in goodwill. We do all the businesses that we do, we are the most honest people in the world but these self-imposed policemen of the world continue to impose sanctions on our people.
We cannot continue to handle them with kid gloves. It is time that we say this is a war declared on us and our economy.
The same people who sanctioned our country cannot come and do business here. They should stop doing business here.
They cannot make money out of our lithium, our gold, diamond et cetera, while they use the same money to destroy our economy. I think this should come to an end.
The United States imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe through the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) in the early 2000s over alleged human rights violations.
The U.S. Government passed ZDERA after Zimbabwe embarked on a Land Reform Programme that was marred by violence.
Since the formation of the MDC in 1999, ZANU PF has habitually accused opposition political parties of calling for sanctions to be imposed on the country to facilitate regime change.
More: Pindula News
