Zimbabweans are reportedly hopeful thatWashington and the European Union will soon lift sanctions imposed on thecountry that they claim have led to untold hardships. The African Union andSouth Africa made the request after main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangiraiagreed to join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.The African Union urged both Washington and the European Union to help Zimbabwerebuild its ill economy, which has recorded the highest inflation rate of morethan two million percent. It contends that lifting the sanctions would go along way to alleviate the suffering among ordinary Zimbabweans who have beensaddled with an economic meltdown and a cholera epidemic. Political analystGlen Mpani tells reporter Peter Clottey Zimbabweans should not keep their hopestoo high.
"Thedemand by the AU and SADC (Southern African Development Community) thatsanctions on Zimbabwe should be lifted, was bound to follow after the MDC(opposition Movement for Democratic Change) has agreed to get into thegovernment of national unity. And what SADC and the AU are simply trying to dois trying and get Zimbabwe back on recovery path," Mpani pointed out.
Hesaid failure of the European Union (EU) lifting sanctions targeted againstZimbabwe might pose a testy showdown between the African continent and Europe.
"Allthey are simply trying to do is to demand that the EU lifts the sanctions, andif in the event that the EU refuses to do that, then it would now be an Africanissue versus Europe. And I don't think Europe would want to put themselves in aposition where they are more or less fighting a continent rather than directlyfighting Zimbabwe," he said.
Mpanisaid there is a possibility that both the EU and Washington might not give ineasily to SADC and the African union.
"Idon't think the EU or America or Britain is going to be able to yield much towhat the AU is saying because I think basically their argument would be to saythat these are targeted sanctions and we are going to take a wait and seeapproach and see the situation there to see whether the government of nationalunity Zimbabwe is going to yield anything," Mpani pointed out.
Hesaid the lifting of the sanctions on Zimbabwe could reverse the country'seconomic meltdown into a recovery.
"Thecall for the removal of the sanctions is very important on the basis that the lineof credit from the World Bank and other multilateral agencies have been blockedbecause of the political crisis in Zimbabwe. So one would hope that if there isa positive response, that in itself can assist the Zimbabwe government to beable to start accessing lines of credit from those multilateral bodies," hesaid.
Mpanisaid both Washington and the European Union imposed sanctions on Zimbabwebecause of the repression among other injustices meted out to innocentcivilians.
"Itis important that people understand that the decision to impose sanctions onZimbabwe was a decision made by countries based on their foreign policies. Andso they would not be pushed into a position where they are forced to changetheir stance regarding Zimbabwe. But what is important is that they are alsogoing to put demands and say we can only be able to do this in the event thatthe Zimbabwe government is seen producing results. It also gives the EU,America and Britain the opportunity for them to also put conditions, say wecannot unilaterally remove the sanctions on Zimbabwe simply because they havegone into a unity government. We would want to see the result of thatgovernment," Mpani noted.
SouthAfrica's Archbishop Desmund Tutu who was a vigorous anti-apartheid campaignerhas added his voice calling for sanctions against Zimbabwe to be lifted, sayingpolitics should not be allowed under any circumstances to hold the ordinaryZimbabwean hostage.
Meanwhile,both Washington and London have reportedly offered restrained hope in response to theannouncement of a unity government, saying such announcements had been madebefore, and stressing that implementation of pacts are vital. Some European foreign ministers last Mondaytightened sanctions on Zimbabwe, freezing the assets of companies based inBritish tax havens for the first time. They also added 26 names to the 177others and their families close to President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF regime toan international travel ban.