The UK Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Melanie Robinson spoke to Trevor Ncube and said the initial promise of Mnangagwa has became a disappointment to the UK.
She said while Mnangagwa initially promised to deal with draconian laws like POSA, had free and fair elections, had some economic reforms, including forex auction that were good and promised media reforms, there has been disappointments after he took over.
There hasn’t been a change of direction to reforms. There was quasi printing in the RBZ.
There is a spoken intention, but there continues to be human right abuses and a closed political space.
Assistance
Ambassador Melanie said the UK has been a friend of Zimbabwe and has donated over $3 Billion over the past 10 years to Zimbabwe.
The UK is also giving cash to rural and urban households who can afford two meals a day.
Behind the Scenes
A year ago British PM sent an envoy to speak to Mnangagwa as a friend.
Ambassador Malanie also had long meetings with SB Moyo. The response they got was that they don’t recognize the progress that has been made.
Sanctions
The UK Ambassador explained thag the UK recently placed four security sector officials under targeted Sanctions because they were responsible for the violence of Jan 2019.
She said sanctions were not placed on Mnangagwa because he was not commanding the units responsible for the viiolence and for shutting down the internet.
She said the sanctions are always under review and more sanctions could follow.
Corruption
Ambassador Melanie said the targeted Sanctions are not harming ordinary Zimbabweans. She said what is harming ordinary Zimbabweans is the poor economic policies and corruption.
Ambassador Melanie said investors from the UK find it difficult to repatriate their profits due to the unstable exchange rates.
They also find that when they sign contracts, other politically connected people get the work due to corruption.
This is unfair on the UK business as they can not participate in any corrupt activities.
Commonwealth
Ambassador Melanie said Zimbabwe’s re admission will depend on them agreeing to live within the values of the commonwealth.
Research
The UK said some of the research that is being done by the UK is being brought into the Zimbabwe government policies, but they would like to see more of it.
She said the UK is trying to assist with creating systemic change and at the same time the development assistance is working, eg for young girls who are getting bursaries.
Please watch the video above this post for more details.Â
