Jonathan Moyo used to believe targeted sanctions were legal

Writing in May 2006 Moyo, then an independent MP after being sacked by ZANU PF, argued that targeted sanctions, including the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA), cannot be said to be illegal either in terms of United States law or international law.

Moyo proceeded to say; If there was any illegality in terms of international law, the government of Zimbabwe would have by now taken the matter up with the appropriate international bodies with the relevant jurisdiction. The fact that no such thing has happened or will happen shows that the mumbo jumbo from the ZANU PF government about the so-called illegal sanctions is cheap propaganda.

Astonishingly Moyo even defended his inclusion on the targeted sanctions list, arguing; Sovereign countries have a right to take policy measures and enact laws such as those contained in the sanctions targeted at some individuals in this country including this writer (Moyo), as long as those measures are lawful in the countries imposing them.

Moyo attacked what he called the policy poverty of Mugabes speech at the opening of parliament in 2006 saying it demonstrated that the ZANU PF leadership is now brain dead, hence its policy delinquency.

Moyo said; Despite spirited attempts to attribute the present economic turmoil to the so-called illegal sanctions, all available indications suggest that the sanctions issue is indeed nothing but propaganda. That is why there is no response to it either in the fiscal or monetary policy.

A fitting summary of the political games at play was to come from Moyo when he said; Mugabe and Murerwa (Finance Minister) understand that the sanctions talk is pure ZANU PF propaganda for mobilising political support from the masses by seeking to make them believe that their suffering is due to economic sanctions imposed by imperialist foreigners and not a result of the failure of their government.

But five years later Moyo is once again part of the ZANU PF team of strategists trying to make something out of the so-called anti-sanctions petition. Over the weekend he had no hesitation in singing the praises of the campaign, claiming it had gathered further momentum with its localisation at major centres in all the countrys 10 provinces.

What Moyo calls the localisation of the campaign has been a campaign of terror and intimidation to force people to sign the petition. In Marondera, ZANU PF thugs closed down all the shops and beer halls in the Rujeko suburb, ordering people to attend the signing of the petition.

Similar bullying was reported in Mutare over the weekend, where violence erupted in the eastern town of Mutare as ZANU PF again forced people to attend their rally and sign the anti-sanctions petition. Loads of trucks were seen passing by the Christmas pass leading into town, just before the violence erupted.

In Bindura white commercial farmers were paraded in front of people at the anti-sanctions rally in the mining town. The farmers were forced to sign the anti-sanctions petition. The scenes are being replicated countrywide and even school children are being forced to sign the petition.

War vets in Mutare visited Sakubva High 1 and Sakubva High 2 and forced all students in Form 4 to 6, plus the teachers, to attend a lecture on ZANU PF policies. After waiting for more than four hours in the heat, singing ZANU PF songs, they were later forced to sign the ZANU PF anti-sanctions petition, the MDC-T reported last week.

It is this violence and intimidation by ZANU PF that led to the imposition of the targeted sanctions by the West and strategizing behind the scenes is the man who once admitted that the anti-sanctions crusade was just mere propaganda.