Malawi lobbies West to remove Zim sanctions

Malawi has appealed to Western countries to remove long-standing sanctions against Zimbabwe, arguing that they continue to negatively impact innocent civilians.

Speaking in Lilongwe on Saturday during celebrations to mark 43 years of Zimbabwe’s independence, Minister of Homeland Security Ken Zikhale Ng’oma said like all Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) member States, Malawi is concerned with the sanctions that were imposed on Zimbabwe.

He said: “As such, Malawi would once again, like to call upon Western countries, to consider removing the sanctions which are affecting women and children.

“Malawi believes that the differences that gave rise to the sanctions can be mutually resolved through contact and dialogue.”

In her remarks, Zimbabwean High Commissioner Nancy Saungweme admitted that the Western-imposed sanctions have affected Zimbabwe’s economy and is grateful to countries such as Malawi for their appeal to have the sanctions removed.

She said: “You know we are dependent on the US dollar …with these sanctions, it means we cannot access the money or trade with some of the countries and this has really affected the performance of our economy.

“In fact, Malawi, in terms of trade, is doing better than us. This is how these sanctions have affected us.”

Saungweme also stressed that both Malawi and Zimbabwe should take advantage of the flourishing diplomatic relationship to increase the level of trade between the two countries and with others within the region.

“We are a family. We are neighbours and trade must be amongst ourselves first before we go further because we can do better deals amongst ourselves. This is why we are happy to see more voices from within calling for removal of sanctions because these do not only affect Zimbabwe, but the region as a whole,” said the envoy.

Zimbabawe attained its independence from Britain in 1980. Western countries imposed sanctions on Harare in the early 2000s over concerns of governance amid land reforms championed by former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe.