By Prof Jonathan Moyo
ON March 6 2003, US President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13288.
The Order was to the effect that he had, “. . . determined that the actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Zimbabwe and other persons undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic processes or institutions, contributing to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Zimbabwe, to politically motivated violence and intimidation in that country, and to political and economic instability in the Southern African region [and] constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”
Three things stand out about the extraordinary sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the US under Executive Order 13288:
First, the order was declared not to do anything for Zimbabwe or for the people of Zimbabwe but specifically and only to ‘deal with’ what Bush alleged was “. . . an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States”.
Second, and tellingly, there was absolutely nothing about Executive Order 13288 which protected or even pretended to protect Zimbabwe or the people of Zimbabwe who, at the very minimum were treated as collateral damage of the national emergency declared by Bush.
Third, the original sanctions list ‘targeted’ persons who were listed in the annex to the Order; and any person determined by the US Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to have been owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly for or on behalf of, any of the persons listed in the annex to this order.
Basically, the sanctions under Executive Order 13288 was only about US foreign policy which Bush felt was threatened by Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.
Executive Order 13391 was issued on November 22 2005, again by Bush, to reinforce and strengthen Executive Order 13288 of March 6 2003.
Like its predecessor, this 2005 Order was about a US national emergency dealing with what Bush determined in 2003 to be “. . . an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States”.
Notably, the Order widened the list of the sanctioned individuals and entities to include the following:
- Persons listed in a new, enlarged Annex to this Order;
- Any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:
- Any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:
- To have engaged in actions or policies to undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic processes or institutions;
- To have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, such actions or policies or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order:
- To be or have been an immediate family member of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or
To be owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this Order.
Again, as is clear in the Order, it should be emphasised that, like the first national emergency issued in 2003, the 2005 Order did not provide any protection to or for Zimbabwe nor Zimbabweans. It was all about responding to “. . . an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreignpolicy of the United States”.
The third, and last Order, still issued by Bush, the warmonger, was the most draconian. It seems, with it, Bush was baying for blood on the floor.
In a move that demonstrated beyond doubt that the sanctions were, in fact, not targeted at some individuals but were aimed at Zimbabwe itself, in 2008, the sanctions list was radically revised to include, “. . . any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of State:
(a) To be a senior official of the Government of Zimbabwe; and
(b) To be owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, the Government of Zimbabwe or an official or officials of the Government of Zimbabwe.”
For all intents and purposes, this was tantamount to a declaration of war as it amounted to sanctioning the entire State and Government of Zimbabwe and, therefore, the nation-State of Zimbabwe itself. And this is the situation that obtained on the ground for 16 years; from 2008 to 2024.
It is understandable but unfortunate that, by and large, the public domain response to Biden’s March 4 2024 Executive Order 14118, which terminated the 21-year-old ‘situation of national emergency’ in Zimbabwe declared on the country by the US, has been more instinctive and opinionated than rational, informed or informing.
Regardless of what one might think about Biden’s Order, it is obvious that its formulation took considerable intellectual effort by US government policy analysts and their usual consultants from academia, resources and time; to warrant better considered and commensurate responses to match the geopolitics behind the Order.
Undoubtedly, Executive Order 14118 is important, significant and essentially positive for Zimbabwe although, predictably, it was announced with negatives that are potentially harmful to Zimbabwe’s sovereign interests and national security considerations and which, therefore, require special attention.
Much of the public domain commentary in the wake of Biden’s revocation of Executive Order 13288 of March 6 2003; Executive Order 13391 of November 22 2005 and Executive Order 13469 of July 25 2008, which were all ordered by George W. Bush, has focussed on what some commenters — especially social media influencers — are claiming are ‘new sanctions’ and ‘hard-hitting’ US sanctions that are targeted at designated individuals and entities under the politically acclaimed ‘Magnitsky Global Sanctions Programme’.
This follows the designation of 11 individuals and three commercial entities by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for their alleged involvement in corruption or serious human rights abuse.
After 23 years of seeking regime change in Zimbabwe under ZDERA and 21 years under Executive Orders which are, in fact, enabled by ZDERA, through imposing sanctions that ostensibly target individuals when they actually target Zimbabwe as a nation-State, the US has learnt nothing.
While the US makes all sorts of self-indulgent claims about its purported fight for human rights and against corruption, it nevertheless continues to use imperialist schemes like the Magnitsky Global Sanctions to target individuals in pursuit of its foreign policy goals, as has been the case under ZDERA, without affording the targeted individuals the due process of law.
In the US scheme of things, the targeted individuals are guilty of human rights abuses and corruption merely and only by dint of the accusations that the US levels against the individuals, as repeated and peddled by the barking of US running dogs in the targeted country.
The foregoing is the context and background of the Magnitsky Sanctions, whose March 4 2024 list on Zimbabwean individuals and commercial entities is divided into three parts; the first being the First Couple, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, first sanctioned on March 6 2003, and First Lady Mai Auxillia Mnangagwa, sanctioned for the first time recently.
Next is the second part headed, ‘Corrupt Business Network’ which lists Kudakwashe Regimond Tagwirei, first sanctioned on August 5 2020; his wife Sandra Mpunga, first sanctioned on December 12 2022; Obey Chimuka, first sanctioned on December 12 2022; Sakunda Holdings, first sanctioned on August 5 2020; Fossil Agro, a Sakunda Holdings subsidiary, first sanctioned on December 12 2022; and Fossil Contracting, first sanctioned on December 12 2022.
The heading of the third part is ‘Security Officials’ and it starts with Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, first sanctioned on March 6 2003; Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, also first sanctioned on March 6 2003; Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Godwin Matanga, first sanctioned on November 23 2005; Deputy Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Stephen Mutamba, first sanctioned on September 15 2022; Deputy Director-General of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Brigadier-General (Rtd) Walter Tapfumaneyi, sanctioned for the first time, recently; and Owen Ncube, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in the Midlands Province, first sanctioned on March 11 2020.
To be continued
