THE recent decision by US President Donald Trump to extend illegal economic sanctions against our country needs a two-pronged response for Washington to realise the futility of the punitive measures.
That sanctions have an adverse effect on our country’s development is a given.
Therefore, somehow or other, they have to go.
They have to be rendered ineffectual or the US Government has to be made to realise the folly of these unjustified sanctions.
None but ourselves can bust these notorious sanctions!
Perhaps, that is why we should not be overly concerned about the US’ continued renewal of these unjustified and illegal sanctions.
We should be able to take the aggression in our stride.
After all, the US was never on our side when we waged the armed struggle to bring about genuine democracy in our country.
They feared a genuine nationalist government would deny them the freedom to loot our minerals.
We still have those coveted minerals.
The burden on us now is to exploit those natural resources for the benefit of Zimbabweans, with or without the bullying Americans.
We have already done so with our land.
But we cannot stand alone, just as the US has the backing of its cousins in Europe in its nefarious endeavour to fix us.
That is why we are encouraged by the renewed urgency to keep the spirit of solidarity burning being shown Zimbabwe by its neighbours.
There is no better time to close ranks than when a neighbour is being economically strangled through sanctions.
Already Botswana and SA, like the rest of Africa, have unequivocally demanded the lifting of the illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe.
The recent Bi-National Commissions with Botswana and SA have produced tangible signs of solidarity with a neighbour under siege.
SA is an economic powerhouse.
During the days of apartheid, this economic giant came to the rescue of a rebellious Ian Smith under legal sanctions, though clandestinely.
A South Africa, now under a former liberation movement, can do the same for Zimbabwe, this time quite openly.
With our vast mineral resources and with neighbours keen to work with us, there is no reason Trump’s sanctions may not eventually prove a blessing in disguise.
The unity forged through tackling US sanctions is likely to have far-reaching effects.
However, the engagement and re-engagement thrust by President Mnangagwa should not be abandoned despite President Trump’s apparent continued hostility.
A way to improve relations with the Trump administration has to be found.
Common sense can be knocked into the US administration for it to realise that Zimbabwe is a peace-loving sovereign state.
Small as it is, there is no ‘unusual’ threat of any kind Zimbabwe poses to the US foreign policy.
Punishing innocent Zimbabweans because of falsehoods spewed by some sections of the media with ulterior motives should not be the basis of soured relations between the two sovereign nations.
We know people like Trump have inherited an outdated policy established during the bi-polar era, when any country friendly to Russia was regarded as an enemy.
This is no longer so President Trump!
Time will tell.