Author: TSA Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe

Hunched on seats at Rode Port cross border bus terminal in the Zimbabwean capital, 45-year-old Timothy Mundonda chats in excitement with his wife and three teen children as they wait to board a bus to Johannesburg.

Mundonda is filled with hope as he takes the journey with his family, heading to a land where he lived a decade ago.
Nostalgia for 2009

In 2009, he said, Zimbabwe saw positive changes with the formation of a unity government with the country’s opposition to stabilize the national economy.

But the honeymoon was “short-lived,” he added.

“Remember the stolen 2013 polls, also remember the stolen elections of 2018, things have never been the same,” Mundonda told Anadolu Agency.

“And even worse this year in terms of economic hardship, I have to head back to South Africa for my family.”

Not far from Mundonda and his family, a group of raucous young people stood, some hanging their jackets on their shoulders, others carrying small backpacks, debating Zimbabwe’s deteriorating situation as they are also set to leave for South Africa.

“We have nothing to stay for here,” 27-year-old Mike Matimbe told Anadolu Agency.

“I personally have never worked since I graduated from university five years ago, and I think it’s better to go toil in South Africa for as long as I would be able to feed myself.”

Left with no choice

Every day Zimbabwean migrants like Mundonda, Matimbe, and hordes of others head to countries like South Africa, unable to bear staying in the country any longer, according to human rights activists.

“People were shot at and some killed last year after elections because they demanded the release of results for the presidential polls,” said Claris Madhuku, director of the Platform for Youth Development, a democracy lobbying group in Zimbabwe.

“People were shot at and killed, some abducted in their homes and beaten by soldiers early this year, even as they battled to survive in this harsh economy, and most now have nothing to wait for, they just have to head out anywhere,” she added.

As such, there is a renewed exodus of Zimbabweans like Mundonda and Mutimbe fleeing an imploding economy and deteriorating human rights situation in the Southern African nation.

In 2000-2008, more than 2 million Zimbabweans migrated to its neighboring giant South Africa, most as economic refugees fell into a deep economic crisis, with inflation shooting up to a mind-boggling 231 million percent.

Over almost two decades, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Mozambique have been destinations for Zimbabwean economic refugees.

Even to this day, according to media experts like Mlondolozi Ndlovu, “the trend of migration from Zimbabwe is on the rise again as people flee a dying economy in a post-Mugabe government,” referring to Robert Mugabe, the country’s late strongman ruler.

Soaring of inflation

Owing to that, Zimbabweans like Mundonda and Mutimbe, apparently taking to their heels, have reeled under the country’s soaring inflation.

Many have no choice, they say, because back home, according to Mundonda, “we face hunger, we face perpetual economic crisis under our government.”

To female migrants like 19-year-old Mucharipa Kazingizi, also heading to South Africa, life in Zimbabwe has become unbearable.

Due to financial challenges, Kazingizi dropped out of college during her first year, where she was pursuing a diploma in marketing.

“It’s tough here,” she said.

“I tried everything, from working as a housemaid to working as a shop assistant, still nothing has changed for me because the money here can’t buy [anything], with its value eroding daily.”

Growing tide of migrants

According to the Zimbabwe Cross Border Association, a group that represents the rights and concerns of cross-border traders, since last September — in the wake of July’s general elections — over 460,000 Zimbabweans left the country to neighboring South Africa and Botswana in search of greener pastures.

In Beitbridge, a Zimbabwean town bordering South Africa, an immigration officer on the South African side said: “The number of Zimbabweans crossing into South Africa has doubled since your country had elections last year.”

“About two months after the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe, we started recording over 800 Zimbabweans crossing into South Africa daily via the border; before, the figure of migrants from Zimbabwe was about 400 every day,” said the officer, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media

Company closures triggering migration

Indigenous Zimbabwean industrialists like Maynard Marembo, whose company recycles plastics, blame the renewed exodus on failing industries.

“Many people have lost their jobs owing to industries that have continued to shut down as they face perpetual operational challenges, and people losing their jobs are leaving the country in search of opportunities elsewhere,” Marembo told Anadolu Agency.

An immigration official at the Beitbridge border post, this time from the Zimbabwean side, speaking on condition of anonymity, rebuffed reports of a renewed exodus.

“We do not inquire from travelers where they are going to or from,” said the official.

“We cannot reveal how many people have left the country because there has been a continuous movement of people in and outside Zimbabwe.”

Up and until the 1990s, Zimbabwe was one of the wealthiest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but over a decade later it became one of the world’s worst.

That has sent many Zimbabweans packing, according to human rights activists.

“Zimbabweans are anxious about the political and economic meltdown, with no answers from their leaders, which therefore is leading to the fresh exodus to neighboring countries as people seek better opportunities,” Okay Machisa, director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights), told Anadolu Agency.

* The drama at WeWork has resulted in huge amounts of legal work for several top law firms. Maybe the firms will get free office space along with their fees. [American Lawyer]

* A new lawsuit alleges that Southwest Airlines pilots hid a video camera in an airplane lavatory and streamed the video from the cockpit. Sounds like a weird new Mile High Club… [Washington Post]

* A 78-year-old woman has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for the attempted murder of her own lawyer. Her criminal defense attorney is one brave person. [AP News]

* Steve Bannon is expected to testify against Roger Stone at the latter’s upcoming trial for federal charges. [National Law Journal]

* Arrests have been made for the murder of Rachelle Bergeron, the New York attorney who served as the acting attorney general of the island of Yap. [BBC]

* Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy was awarded the Liberty Medal yesterday for efforts to promote education about the Constitution. The award comes with a $100,000 prize — hope he’s not jealous that RBG won a $1,000,000 award last week. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

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Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

Death in Custody : Rights of Prisoners

According to Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, eleven street vendors were arrested on the 12th October for assaulting a police officer, having taken refuge in the cellar of a building in the centre of Harare in which a large number of old police helmets were found.  The vendors were later taken before a magistrate, who remanded them in custody pending consideration of their applications for bail.

One of their number, a young man named Hilton Tamangani, was found dead in his cell in the Harare Remand Prison on the 18th October.  His death was announced by the Ministry of Information in a statement which read in part:

“The individual was remanded in a condition of unwellness and immediate medical care was sought for him and he was hospitalised.

“He was attended to by doctors.  All deaths in custody are thoroughly investigated.  We now await the result of a post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death.”

Mr Tamangani’s lawyers claim that he was severely beaten by the police.  They have released a copy of a letter they wrote to the Officer in Charge of the Harare Remand Prison, in which they said:

“Our client has advised us that he has developed a fatal infection whilst being medically attended to at your premises, Harare Remand Prison Clinic.  In the premises, we are approaching your office to request that our client be attended to by a private doctor of his choice.  Our client undertakes to pay the requisite medical costs.”

The prison authorities, the lawyers say, refused to accept the letter and so Mr Tamangani was not examined by his own doctor before his death.

Violation of Constitutional Rights of Prisoners

Whatever the cause of Mr Tamangani’s death, the events surrounding it show a deplorable disregard for his constitutional rights as a prisoner.

Section 50(5)(c) of the Constitution provides that anyone who is detained has the right to communicate with, and be visited by, their relatives, their chosen religious counsellor, their chosen lawyer and their chosen medical practitioner.  The right to be visited by all these people is important, but it is particularly important for prisoners to be allowed to see their medical practitioners, as Mr Tamangani’s case so tragically demonstrates.

There are at least three reasons this right is so vital:

1. Prisoners are in the custody of the State which means the State is responsible for ensuring their health and well-being.  If medical facilities in prisons are inadequate ‒ and it is notorious that they are basic at best and rudimentary or non-existent at worst ‒ then the prison authorities must take prisoners to hospitals outside their prisons or allow them to receive care and treatment from their own medical practitioners.
2. Prisoners may be in poor health and need medication or treatment which their own medical practitioners can provide more readily than prison doctors.
3. Prisoners who claim they have been assaulted by the police or prison authorities may need to be examined by their own doctors in order to establish their claims.

Above all, prison authorities must remember that prisoners have rights.  Prisoners are deprived of much of their freedom of movement ‒ they cannot leave their prison whenever they want to ‒ and they may be deprived of other rights and freedoms so far as it is necessary to prevent them escaping and to maintain discipline in prisons.  But apart from that they have all the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed them by the Constitution, including the right to be seen by their chosen medical practitioner which, as we have pointed out, is specifically given to them by section 50(5)(c) of the Constitution.  This is particularly so in the case of awaiting trial prisoners who have not been convicted of any criminal offence.

Even prisoners who have been found guilty of the most heinous crimes remain human beings entitled to their basic human rights.  And it must be remembered that Mr Tamangani was an awaiting trial prisoner who had not been tried for, let alone found guilty of, any crime at all.

Prison authorities, in brief, have a duty to care for their prisoners and respect their rights.  In the case of Mr Tamangani, it seems, they failed in this duty ‒ and they compounded their failure terribly by refusing to allow him to be seen by his own doctor even after being requested to do so by his lawyers.

Post Mortem

In the event Mr Tamangani has died.  All the authorities can do now is to ensure that his death is properly investigated at a public inquest and that those responsible for his death are brought to justice.  The underlying purpose of an inquest, as explained by a court in 1990, is to promote public confidence, to reassure the public that all deaths from unnatural causes will receive proper attention and investigation so that, where necessary, appropriate measures can be taken to prevent similar occurrences and to bring persons responsible for the deaths to justice.  For an inquest to achieve this purpose a post-mortem examination should be conducted on the body of the deceased to establish the cause of death, and the post-mortem examination should be such as to promote public confidence in its thoroughness and impartiality.  In this case, regrettably, public confidence may be lacking since a magistrate turned down a lawyers’ request to have an independent medical practitioner present when the post-mortem was conducted.

Mr Tamangani’s family might have been able to push more effectively for a proper post-mortem if an effective and independent complaints mechanism had been established under section 210 of the Constitution.  Unfortunately the Government has not carried out its duty to establish such a mechanism, and the Constitutional Court has failed to order the Government to establish one, despite an application brought by Veritas in early 2016 requesting it to do so.

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/48964124801/sizes/m/

The anti-sanctions public holiday on Friday was a new dimension in Zimbabwean lunacy, buoyed by mistaken African solidarity. They accept Zanu PF propaganda without looking into what these sanctions are or why they were imposed.

They won’t even notice the poor attendance at the anti-sanctions rallies in Harare and Bulawayo – where the main interest of those attending was the chicken, chips and Pepsi on offer. Fortunately, the economic effect of a day off work will be minimal in a country of mass unemployment.

It is dereliction of care that SADC doesn’t pay attention to the catastrophe in Zimbabwe. Are they not troubled by this ‘invitation’ to the anti-sanctions rally sent to ‘all Heads of ministries and departments in Bulawayo’? ‘Your members of staff are invited without fail to be part of this very important march. May you kindly favour this office with a list of your members of staff for ease of accountability.’ A copy of the letter can be seen on this link: https://www.vantunews.com/news/politics-anti-sanctions-march-bulawayo-civil-servants-invited-without-fail-by-government-a-register-to-be-used-to-mark-those-present

To the Vigil this sounds like fascist North Korea – unsurprising since the Matabeleland genocide in the 1980s was committed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade of Mnangagwa.

An article in Newsday by the US Ambassador Brian Nichols pulls no punches: ‘Blaming sanctions is a convenient scapegoat to distract the public from the real reasons behind Zimbabwe’s economic challenges —corruption, economic mismanagement, and failure to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law.’ (see: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2019/10/its-not-sanctions-its-corruption-lack-of-reforms-2/).

The US followed it up with another punch, banning state security minister Owen Ncube from entering the US because of his involvement in gross violations of human rights. ‘We are deeply troubled by the Zimbabwean government’s use of state-sanctioned violence against peaceful protestors, and civil society, as well as against labour leaders and members of the opposition leaders in Zimbabwe,’ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. ‘We urge the government to stop the violence, investigate and hold accountable officials responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Zimbabwe,’ he said.

The Vigil today marked one such abuse with this letter to the Zimbabwean Embassy signed by all present: ‘Your countrymen outside the Embassy are protesting today at the brutal murder of Harare street vendor Hilton Tafadzwa Tamangani by the police. Tamangani was arrested along with ten other vendors and taken to Harare police station, where they were beaten with baton sticks. 29-year-old Tamangani, who has a seven-year-old son, was left in agony from his injuries and died without sedatives during the night. The Zimbabwe Vigil calls for an inquiry into his death and the prosecution of the offenders .Scandals like this have become all too common, with the police acting illegally, with impunity.’ Thanks to Rosemary Maponga, Mary Muteyerwa and Patience Chimba for leading on this protest and bringing  posters.

Other points

• A Pastor in the Bulawayo area who is supported by some Vigil activists reports: ‘Wherever we go people no longer say the usual ‘How are you/I am fine.’ They go directly into talking about their problems. They say: I haven’t eaten for two days, no food at all, even today. We made a mistake by voting for the present government because we thought that by removing the late president things would get better, but they are worse. The prices have gone up so much we can’t afford to buy; the children will die.  They can’t even go to school; We can’t afford to go to hospital when we are sick because the bus fares are too high. Now our money can’t buy anything.  After all this the President doesn’t say anything, nothing encouraging, no plan. At least President Mugabe would say something. We don’t know what’s going to happen to the whole nation.  There’s hunger everywhere. If you need anything like a birth-certificate you have to pay somebody for it.  If you don’t pay you don’t get it. We are praying and praying and praying and we thank God that we are still alive. He has heard our prayers.’ (See: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/vigil-news/campaign-news/1044-report-from-the-bulawayo-pastor-october-2019).
• Thanks to those who helped set up the front table and put up the banners on a wet day: Cynthia Chibanda, Benjamin Chigamba, Marvellous Chinguwa, Leslie Gakanje, Delice Gavazah, Rosemary Maponga, Esther  Munyira, Mary Muteyerwa, Hazvinei Saili, Rudo Takiya, Ephraim Tapa and Kevin Wheeldon. Thanks to Rosemary and Hazvinei for looking after the front table, to Hazvinei, Marvellous and Esther for handing out flyers, to Mary and Delice for drumming, to Delice for prayer and to Hazvinei and Jonathan Kariwo for photos.
• We’ve had many wet Vigils lately so a collection was made to buy a gazebo. Thanks to those who contributed: Happy Chazuza, Benjamin Chigamba, Patience Chimba, Marvellous Chinguwa, Rangarirai Chivariro, Delice Gavazah, Yvonne Jacobs, Philip Maponga, Rodwell Mpawose, Washington Mugari, Esther Munyira, Hazvinei Saili, Ephraim Tapa and Kevin Wheeldon.
• For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimb88abwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website.

FOR THE RECORD:  22 signed the register.

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

• ROHR general members’ meeting. Saturday 9^th November from 11.30 am. Venue: Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX. Contact: Ephraim Tapa 07940793090, Patricia Masamba 07708116625, Esther Munyira 07492058109.
• ROHR fundraising dinner dance. Saturday 7^th December from 6 pm till late. Venue tba. ROHR is hosting a dinner dance to raise funds for a Zimbabwe peace building initiative. Tickets £25. Contact: Esther Munyira 07492058109, Hazvinei Saili 07857602830, Margaret Munenge 07384300283, Pamela Chirimuta 07762737339.
• The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organization on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents us.
• The Vigil’s book ‘Zimbabwe Emergency’ is based on our weekly diaries. It records how events in Zimbabwe have unfolded as seen by the diaspora in the UK. It chronicles the economic disintegration, violence, growing oppression and political manoeuvring – and the tragic human cost involved. It is available at the Vigil. All proceeds go to the Vigil and our sister organisation the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe’s work in Zimbabwe. The book is also available from Amazon.

• Facebook pages:

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In opening remarks to a building back better workshop which is focusing on the need for climate resilient investment in reconstruction and development in cyclone-affected regions of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, Mr. Madiro said his ministry was working with other ministries, government departments, international agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector on rebuilding livelihoods and infrastructure in the affected eastern part of the country.

They are also working on different strategies to better prepare communities and to integrate climate information in their response so they can build resilience.

“We at Home Affairs, work with climate and weather monitoring organizations, disaster preparedness and risk reduction units to strengthen our national and regional strategies to generate and share reliable climate information,” he said.

The minister said bringing together policy makers, climate research centres, academic institutions, national meteorological services, and grassroots organisations, will bridge the gap between climate research and climate information needs.

Mr. Madiro said policymakers in Zimbabwe and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) need to be armed with strong, evidence-based information in order to make properly informed decisions for a climate-resilient economy.

“A disconnect between producers and users of climate information can lead to climate information that is often too technical, difficult to access and does not speak to users’ needs,” he said.

He continued: “We must have strong early warning systems to provide critical data to prepare us for droughts, floods and storms, and to save lives and minimise economic damage,” he said, adding evidence showed that robust weather and climate information offered ‘extremely good value for money in protecting and enhancing development.”

“I commend UNECA and its partners’ initiative to organize such an event to raise awareness and share tools to help building back better and building with resilience.”

James Murombedzi, Chief of the African Climate Policy Center (ACPC) at the ECA, for his part noted the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report earlier in the year that climate change was accelerating and in turn increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate events was expected.

“This is amply demonstrated by the increasing number and severity of weather events affecting southern Africa, as we experienced this year with cyclones Desmond, Idai and Kenneth striking in quick succession. It is thus important that as we reconstruct after the devastation of the cyclones, we also urgently act to build the resilience of our region in order to ensure that we achieve our sustainable development goals in a changing climate,” he said.

“We are therefore gathered here to initiate programmes to support the integration of climate information services and climate change considerations into resilience building in climate sensitive sectors of the economies of SADC countries.”

At the end of the workshop we hope to have identified critical issues that need to be addressed in order to mainstream climate change into development planning in order to not only build back better after the devastation of the cyclones, but to also build climate resilience into our economies, ecosystems, infrastructure, and communities, Mr. Murombedzi said.

“The African Climate Policy Centre undertakes to work with governments and partners in the SADC region to support initiatives to develop best practices, build capacities, mobilise resources for climate resilient development in the region,” he said.

The workshop is reviewing the status of climate information services in the region, exploring tools and methods for enhancing the mainstreaming of climate change in development planning, and identifying concrete actions towards climate proofing economic activities, ecosystems, human settlements and physical infrastructure, especially in areas projected to be impacted by extreme weather and climate events.

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GETTY IMAGESGovernment supporters chanted slogans in Harare, in one of the country-wide marches

Thousands of people are marching across Zimbabwe in government-organised protests against US and EU sanctions.

The demonstrators say the sanctions have ruined the Zimbabwean economy.

But the US and EU argue they have been imposed on individuals and companies and have no impact on the economy.

The government has made the day a public holiday, provided buses for marches and President Emmerson Mnangagwa gave an address at the National Sports Stadium.

“We know very well that the sanctions are neither smart nor targeted,” AFP news agency reports him as saying to the crowds.

“Their impact on our daily lives is immeasurable and the consequences are dire,” he added.

But critics say the government is trying to deflect anger about the worsening economic crisis which has seen increasing inflation and people’s incomes falling.

Protesters wore T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “#SanctionsMustGo” and carried placards saying the sanctions were a crime against humanity.

Business owners told the BBC’s Shingai Nyoka that the sanctions have put a black mark against Zimbabwe meaning banks have stopped lending companies money at affordable interest rates.

‘Propaganda effort’

Speakers at the stadium said the sanctions were the reason for most of the economic problems that Zimbabwe is facing including power and water shortages.

Our correspondent adds that less people than expected turned up to the main protest, with only 15-20,000 people in a stadium with a capacity of 60,000.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has said the protests are part of a propaganda effort to mask the country’s “failed leadership”.

The US embassy in Zimbabwe tweeted that the fault for the failing economy lies with the government’s “failed economic policies”.

The US financial and travel restrictions currently apply to 85 individuals, including President Mnangagwa, and 56 companies or organisations.

The US also imposed a ban on arms exports to Zimbabwe.

EU sanctions also target specific individuals both within the Zimbabwean government and associated with it.

Travel restrictions and a freeze on assets have been imposed, along with the sale of military hardware and equipment which might be used for internal repression.

Some of the sanctions started 20 years ago but in March the US government added to its list military officials involved in last year’s deadly crackdown on protesters.

JOHANNESBURG – Lobby group, the Coalition against Sanctions, says sanctions against Zimbabwe are hurting the people and not the politicians.

The coalition, flanked by the ANC and PAC, have handed over memorandums of demand to the United States and European Union embassies, demanding an end to sanctions.

The organisation says the measures are unjust and punishing the population.

The sanctions are targeting 85 people, including Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa and 56 businesses, which are seen as crucial to Zimbabwe’s economy.

“Here is what we are saying I am just a citizen with a mother in Zimbabwe crying with no food in the stomach, because our government is saying sanctions are the cause right now we know that there is mismanagement, there is corruption a lot of things that can be said to the government of Zimbabwe,” said Coalition against Sanctions director Wellington Manyonda.

Zimbabwe’s economy has struggled to grow for many years and is expected to contract by 7-percent this year.

While it seems the days of hyperinflation are back again, after inflation shot up 300-percent from 4.3-percent in 2018 to around 175.6-percent in June this year.

The US embassy in Harare has denied that the sanctions are against Zimbabwe.

The embassy says they are aimed at those who engage in corruption and violate human rights.

On its Twitter account, the embassy says the sanctions do not prohibit trade between Zimbabwe and the US.

“The continued judgment and setting of Utopian standards for Zimbabwe are callous, vindictive and should not be allowed to continue,” Mnangagwa told supporters in an address at the National Sports Stadium in the capital, Harare. “We say enough is enough. Remove sanctions now.”

Sanctions against some individuals in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and businesses associated with them were imposed back in 2003. The U.S. has made periodic amendments to include people the State Department believes are responsible for human-rights abuses or enriching themselves at the country’s expense.

Zimbabwe has received more than $3 billion in U.S. aid since 1980 and at least $300 million this year alone, the U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nichols said in an interview with newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube that was posted on the U.S. embassy’s Twitter account.

The U.S. is Zimbabwe’s single-biggest donor. Despite diplomatic tension between the two countries, American aid kept Zimbabweans from starvation after former president Robert Mugabe authorized the often violent seizure of about 90% of all white-owned farms between 2000 and 2012. That cost the country millions of jobs and saw farm exports almost disappear.

“Our targeted sanctions are not responsible for Zimbabwe falling tragically short of its potential. The fault lies in the catastrophic mismanagement by those in power and the government’s own abuse of its citizens,” Nichols tweeted Thursday.

The Southern African Development Community reiterated an August call for all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe to be removed.

Sanctions “directly impact on employment and income generation opportunities, and thus the livelihoods of the ordinary Zimbabweans,” it said in an emailed statement Friday.

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In Harare, many stayed away from the demonstrations, saying they were a distraction from the president’s mishandling of the economy, which is plagued by 18-hour daily power cuts and shortages of foreign exchange, fuel and medicines.

Mnangagwa has so far failed to unify the country since taking over from the late Robert Mugabe, who was ousted in a coup in 2017. Hopes of a swift recovery have faded as the economy struggles to exit its deepest crisis in a decade.

Mnangagwa, like Mugabe, blames the sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union since 2001 for the economic ills and says they are intended to remove his party from power.

“Every part and sector of our economy has been affected by these sanctions like a cancer,” Mnangagwa told a sparse crowd in Harare’s 60,000-seater national stadium. “Enough is enough, remove them. Remove these sanctions now!”

The poor attendance showed the difficulties that Mnangagwa faces in mobilizing party members still divided between Mugabe’s supporters and those who ousted him. The rift was exposed by a bruising dispute over the former leader’s funeral.

Earlier, government supporters led by Mnangagwa’s wife Auxillia and bussed from across Zimbabwe marched for 5 km to the stadium.

Singing and dancing, they waved placards inscribed “No sanctions, no discrimination, sanctions new version of slavery,” and “Enough is enough, remove sanctions now.”

“We have no jobs because of the sanctions. America wants to remove ZANU-PF from power through sanctions but we will defend the party and our president,” said 32-year-old Martin Mafusire.

Similar marches were held throughout Zimbabwe after Mnangagwa declared Friday a public holiday.

But in downtown Harare, many people went about their daily business selling everything from fruit to cellphones.

“It is Mnangagwa who has to go because he has failed. I can’t leave my station to go on a useless march,” said mother-of-three Catherine Chihota, selling fruit at a street corner.

The EU and United States imposed financial and travel bans on ZANU-PF and top military figures for alleged human rights abuses and electoral fraud. The government says the measures are punishment for its seizures of white-owned farms.

ZANU-PF supporters condemn the sanctions while the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change says they are not the cause of the country’s economic crisis.

The regional Southern African Development Community has rallied behind Zimbabwe’s call for an end to sanctions.

While the government ran documentaries and articles in the official press criticizing sanctions, the U.S. and EU embassies took to social media to rebut the official narrative.

U.S. Ambassador Brian Nichols wrote an article in a private newspaper on Thursday saying “the greatest sanctions on Zimbabwe are the limitations that the country places on itself”.

He said the United States remained the biggest donor to Zimbabwe but corruption and lack of reform had dragged down the economy.

The EU keeps some sanctions in place, but in June it began talks with Harare meant to move on from the Mugabe era.

Harare says the U.S. sanctions have been the most devastating. These bar U.S. officials at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank from voting for debt relief or fresh lending for Zimbabwe.

In March, President Donald Trump extended by one year sanctions against 141 entities and individuals in Zimbabwe, including Mnangagwa.

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