The President Donald Trump led United States Government has said Zimbabweans lived under better conditions during former President Robert Mugabe’s tenure than they are doing now under President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mugabe was removed through a military coup in November 2017 and replaced by Mnangagwa.
Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the statement on the first anniversary of the Zimbabwean military opening fire on opposition activists and civilians, killing at least six of them and injuring more than 40.
“As Zimbabweans mark this somber anniversary, we are reminded of all that can go wrong when regime preservation comes ahead of real democratic change. Zimbabwe is facing a worse political and economic crisis today than in 2017 when long-time ruler Robert Mugabe was forced from power by the country’s military. Today, citizens are suffering under staggering inflation, regular fuel and water shortages, rolling blackouts, a failing currency, and an increasingly repressive political environment,” said Risch.
He said Mnangagwa’s efforts to cleanse his government’s image abroad and to convince the Zimbabwean people that their economic woes are the fault of very targeted U.S. sanctions were wrong priorities.
“These sanctions are on individuals who violated the rule of law and caused this political and economic chaos. President Mnangagwa should instead focus on delivering the ZANU-PF government’s long-promised reforms. He should also uphold his commitment to hold to account those in the military leadership responsible for ordering the shooting of unarmed civilians last August, and since then,” said Risch.
The US said the ZANU-PF-led government, under the leadership of Mnangagwa, who was installed after the military coup in November 2017 and in flawed elections in 2018, made sweeping promises upon taking office which included holding members in the military accountable for shooting and killing unarmed civilians in August 2018 and January 2019.
