Mumbengegwi said that all political parties in the country were in
agreement that sanctions should be lifted, a position that has also been emphasized by SADC and the African Union.
But Driden Kunaka, the MDC representative in New Zealand, said it was
too early to consider lifting sanctions placed on individuals in ZANU
PF. He said the unity government needs to introduce a lot of reforms if
the western world was to revisit the issue of targeted sanctions.
You still have a lot of officials in the government who are failing to
embrace the inclusive government. This is a fresh start, people should
drop their old habits, but it's not the case yet with some in ZANU PF.
With due respect to Mumbengegwi, he should be calling for political
prisoners to be released before transcending the borders to ask for
sanctions to be removed,' Kunaka said.
The government in New Zealand, just as in the UK, has taken a cautious
approach, waiting to see if the new government will bring about real
change.
The New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, last week said he was prepared
to order their cricket team not to tour Zimbabwe in July on safety and
health grounds, despite a plea from Education and Sports Minister David
Coltart not to cancel their tour.
My call to the New Zealanders is clear and unequivocal. People have to
give this coalition government a chance, and that applies to all
levels, cricket included. I would like to see the New Zealand team
touring Zimbabwe. If need be I will go to New Zealand to persuade them
to com'.
But Kunaka said what Coltart needed to do was to persuade Robert Mugabe
to release all political detainees first, before traveling on this
mission.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently said they were ready to
lift targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe, if the new unity government
releases political prisoners and pushes through economic reforms.Â
Observers say the inclusive government needs to be judged by its
actions and its deeds, which will act as the basis for the
international community to engage.
At the moment there is no encouragement from the government that
anything has changed. The hardliners haven't changed their behaviour,
despite all the leaders embracing the unity government. I can safely
say, there is still no rule of law and there is not democracy yet in
the country,' Kunaka added.
A political commentator explained that the hardliners are prepared to
go down fighting. Fighting, it must be pointed out, to safeguard their
wealth and privileges and not for any cause or principle beneficial to
the people of Zimbabwe as a whole. It must be this group that is
responsible for the former ruling party's ruthless ways of dealing with
opponents,' said the commentator, referring to the arrest of the MDC's
prospective deputy agriculture minister, Roy Bennett, on the eve of his
swearing-in.
The British government last year indicated that it was working with the
United States, EU, World Bank and International Monetary Fund on a
financial recovery plan for Zimbabwe, but it all depended on whether
the government reformed or not. Evidence on the ground shows nothing
has changed so far.