The European Union has performed a U turn on Zimbabwe by lifting sanctions on the Zimbabwe Diamond Company, a report states.
Although an independently verifiable person could not be reached on Tuesday, Europe based reports stated that a yet unamed EU official has said the body is now lifting sanctions on Zimbabwe.
The report quoted the unnamed official saying the EU has “begun the process of delisting” Zimbabwean persons from the Mugabe-targeted sanctions which were meant to influence democratic reforms. This came at a time when the country’s recent elections were slammed by the same body. It is thus believed that the EU has contradicted itself since two months before elections it had stated that sanctions would be reviewed upon credible elections being held in the country.
Huddersfield top lecturer and political commentator, Nkululeko Sibanda has said that there appears to be desperation on the EU’s position to lift sanctions.
“As a matter of fact the EU is impatient to lift the sanctions on Zimbabwe necessarily because the main parties are arguing ….that the sanctions are no longer necessary or effective in achieving democracy in the country. And therefore it would seem to me though that they are looking for an excuse. Which raises an excuse to remove them. It raises the question as to whether or not all along they saw them as an effective tool for promoting democracy at all, rather than just a political gimmick on their side. It certainly raises eyebrows as to why a mere referendum would be seen as important in determining democracy in Zimbabwe…,” he told ZimEye earlier in the year.
27 Replies to “EU In Shocking U-turn, Scraps Sanctions On Zimbabwe Diamond Company – Report”
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The diamond proceeds has to be monitored if its going towards the manipulation of human rights definately sanctions is an option.
late me say in Shona,mutauro wamunonzwa,aslym seekers hazvirevi kuti MDC-N OR MDC-T,Zvinoreva upoteri,kureva kuti chinoda kukuruma ndiwe unochiziva,plus maSanction amunotaura hamuazive,munhu apedzesa vanhu uye kuti nyika itambure ndiChamatama,achida kuitawo mutungamiri,manje vanhu tikapera anozotungamira ani? Varungu here? Batai munhu vakomana!
Ini tonhoo
I know a majority of MDC followers and the leadership of MDC will feel this a bad move by the EU, but my long term strategical perception is that this is a very good move.Let EU and the rest of the West lift their sanctions on Zanu-PF and see if the standard of living for Zimbabweans will improve.Infact EU must demand that as they undertake to lift these sanctions their observers must be allowed to be in Zimbabwe, by year 2018.That is when they will be able to recognize the full scale of how Zanu-PF has always systematically rigged elections.The lifting of sanctions may actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise, because Zanu-PF will be left without any excuse for their perennial failures.
stop the fighting pple we are all zimbos and we want whats best for our country and the future of our Children, we might not enjoy the fruits asi vana vedu vachatapirirwa zvekuti.. thats if we focus on building the economy of this country
Ko nhai vana ve Zimbabwe munotukaniraneyi? Ko munodiniwo kungopindurana muchipawo kufunga kwenyu panokungogara makangotukana muchishandisa mutauro unonyadzisa pachirudzi chedu. Kuti ndiyo inonzi “freedom of speech”. Veduwe, ndapota hangu, ma Zimbabwean tinetsika dzedu, dzokukudzana, vakuru, navadiki, tambo dinivo kumboedza kudziteveredzera? The majority of Zimbabweans suffered because of the illegal sanctions, that is a fact. The majority of Zimbabweans, supported by SADC, AU and other international bodies have repeatedly called for the lifting of the illegal sanctions. Now that the EU is doing what it has been asked to do, why are you as Zimbabweans fighting about the noble EU decision?
Those pple vanotuka zvinyadzo unobva waziva kuti lack of education, lack of facts, empty headed, ITS USELESS HAVING A INTELLIGENT DEBATE WITH THEM
@least madiamonds ngaatengeswe straight tionewo zvinonzi mari irikubiwa, no more excuses 4 under perfomance apa EU yagona
Iwe so called mwana we ZANU, dont be so shallow, if you think all ma asylum seekers ndeve MDC, think again
@ FARAI.what’s yo problem man.y are saying Mai Joza’s head iz full o dog dung its bcoz u dont understand politics very well neh.i think all articles of mai joza are very hard for u,her english nhapi tapi yoga yoga.yeah o course all zanu pf material mwakangongwarira pakuba chete nekungoshaura nonsense bt chikoro hamuna.so let those who know’s tell u.ungaita hasha nthing u can cme with coz yo head is full of empty.
Mai Joza your head is full of dog dung.
Desperation! Who is this short-sighted goon who thinks a mere scrapping off of sanctions will worry ZANU PF? Am sorry the imperial west left for too late. Removing them or not will not affect ZANU PF. It will only affect those really affected – the povo! You can’t tell Fidel Castro today that we are removing Cuba fron sanctions list and expect him to ululate. Talk of lack of strategy and desperation, sies1!
Revolt dont ever think the pale skin will be our saviour.
Shocking, shocking chiiko? Zimeye zvese shocking. Mune hana nhete. Hapana shocking apa. Pachaitwa shocking muchatii? Kkkk
Sanctions or no sanctions mari inongodyiwa nembwa dzeZanu imi povo muchifarira. Kupusa zvakunoita. Tione ka if things will improve
With targeted sanctions removed, let’s see what the excuses for non-remittance of diamond proceeds and bad governance will be this time!
EU yodawo kuluma.Handiti ave kuperaka madiamonds maChina achimora akanyarara. Hapana inofurira irere. Vanozo pepuka Chiadzwa rave gwenga saka vave kudawo kuwana upfumi huri pachena uhwu.
fuck you all ue has lifted sunctions and we wll prove it to u tht zanu pf is the best i hate those stupid pple asylum seekes in other countrys they very stupid busy talking shit about our lovely counrty nxa
In 2011, Finance Minister
Tendai Biti claimed that at
least US$1 billion in
diamond-related revenue
owed to the national
treasury remains
unaccounted for. Biti has
blamed corruption,
misappropriation and a
lack of transparency for
the systematic underselling
of diamonds and the
failure to recoup losses.[5]
In an address to
parliament, Biti said “it is
worrying that there is no
connection whatsoever
between diamond exports
made by Zimbabwe and
the revenues realised
thereof”.[6]
President Robert Mugabe
and his politburo have
also come under criticism
for making personal
benefits by assigning
lucrative concessions in
the Marange diamond
fields to Chinese firms and
the Zimbabwean military.
The Zimbabwean military,
which oversees the
Marange fields, has been
accused of systematic
human rights abuses and
smuggling of diamonds to
neighbouring
Corruption in Zimbabwe
has become endemic
within its political, private
and civil sectors.
[1]Zimbabwe ranks joint
163rd out of 176 countries
in the 2012 Transparency
International Corruption
Perceptions Index , ranking
it alongside Equatorial
Guinea. On a scale of 0
(highly corrupt) to 10 (very
clean), the Corruption
Perceptions Index marked
Zimbabwe 2.0. This marks
an increase in corruption
since 1999, when the
country ranked 4.1.[2]
Corruption in the public
sector
The findings of a 2011
survey commissioned by
Transparency International
Zimbabwe found that
Zimbabwean citizens
regarded the public sector
as the most corrupt sector
in the country. In this
survey respondents
favoured the police as
being most corrupt
followed by political
parties, parliament/
legislature, public officials/
civil servants and the
judiciary.[3] In 2008, a
Transparency International
director announced that
Zimbabwe loses US$5
million to corruption every
day.[4]
As sanctions are removed that will be the burial of Zanu Pf. People should never panic on this. Belgium is our guarantee on this.
the difference is the same since the money will go to zanu pf
This is now a preparation to remove all propaganda and petty excuses. I talked to Khama and he felt Africa feels Mugabe is a comman when it comes to sanctions. Lets finish off Bob. That is why AU Sadc want Mugabe off.
This is good news we worked underground to have sanctions lifted so that an uprising against Zanu Pf will be simple. AU said without removing sanctions elections in Zimbabwe wil be a waste of time as Zanu Pf will continue to rig elections.
Pale euro devils at their worst.Not all bad news varume. I now banging biggest hule e Halale its name is Grace.
We are aware that
our
Party of
excellance was
infiltrated by Nikuv
sponsored CIO. With no sanctions nomore excuses. Jonathan Moyo
is full cholera shit. Zanu Pf wont scapegoat and Zimbabwe should be clear of diseases. In
developing
countries four-fifths
of all the illnesses are
caused by water-
borne diseases, with
diarrhoea being the leading
cause of childhood death.
The global picture of water and
health has a strong local
dimension with some 1.1 billion
people still lacking access to
improved drinking water sources
and some 2.4 billion to adequate
sanitation. Today we have strong
evidence that water-, sanitation
and hygiene-related diseases
account for some 2,213,000
deaths annually and an annual
loss of 82,196,000 Disability
Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) (R.
Bos, Dec. 2004).
WHO estimates indicate that
worldwide over 2 billion people
are infected with schistosomes
and soil transmitted helminthes
and 300 million of these suffer
serious illness as a result.
Malaria kills over a million
people every year, and a large
percentage of them are under
five as well, mainly in Africa
South of the Sahara. In 2001 the
estimated global burden of
malaria amounted to 42.3 million
DALYs, constituting 10 % of
Africa’s overall disease burden.
Malaria causes at least 396.8
million cases of acute illness each
year. Pregnant women are the
main adult risk group. As one of
the major public health
problems in tropical countries, it
has been claimed that malaria
has reduced economic growth in
African countries by 1.3 % each
year over the past 30 years (*).
An estimated 246.7 million
people worldwide are infected
by schistomiasis, and of these 20
million suffer severe
consequences of the infection,
while 120 million suffer milder
symptoms. An estimated 80% of
transmission takes place in Africa
south of the Sahara (*).
Diarrhoea occurs worldwide and
causes 4% of all deaths and 5%
of the health loss to disability.
In Bangladesh alone, some 35
million people are exposed, on a
daily basis, to elevated levels of
arsenic in their drinking water,
which will ultimately threaten
their health and shorten their life
expectancy.
After the Tsunami attack in Asia
on Sunday the 26th of
December 2004 people faced the
threat of water borne diseases
linked to flooding, like
Shigellosis, Cholera, Hepatitis A,
Leptospirosis, Typhoid Fever,
Malaria and Dengue fever.
To start with these so called sanctions were never “targeted” as we were made to believe since it was the general populace which continued to suffer.