Saturday, 23 May 2020

Two Zimbabwean banks have been removed from the US sanctions list

RUSTENBURG - Two Zimbabwean banks have been removed from the US sanctions list, state media reported on Friday.

According to a report in daily newspaper The Herald, Agribank and the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) have now been fully removed from the US sanctions list, allowing them to do international business more easily and obtain lines of credit.

The two banks were put under US sanctions in July 2008. In April 2013, sanctions were partially lifted by the issuance of a licence permitting business with the two banks subject to limitations.
In February 2016, they were removed from the sanctions list, but the licence requirements remained. These have now been removed with effect from May 22 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury, the daily reported.

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) reported that Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the removal would help the banks access credit lines and remove any restrictions that pertain to know-your-customer challenges, which is what happens when a bank is in the spotlight.
"Now that they (sanctions) have been lifted, the banks will find it easier to do business going forward. So this is a very welcome development indeed," he said.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Moyo said the lifting of sanctions on the two banks was
“a progressive and welcome development that is as a result of us finding each other’s chemistry between Zimbabwe and the US”.
He said Zimbabwe was looking forward to further progress in terms of lifting sanctions on other entities in the country.

Moyo said Zimbabwe had moved from a point where the two countries were not talking to a point of dialogue. He hoped that the sanctions would eventually be lifted as the country pursued its re-engagement initiatives.

Sources:- African News Agency and IOL 

What about the Zimbabwean Women and Children?

Energy Mutodi has been fired;
What about the Zimbabwean Women and Children?

Mutodi the Ediot
The fact that Energy Mutodi is probably a decrepit joke of an imbalanced, imbecile like man, goes
https://zimfreeexpression.blogspot.com/2020/05/Mutodi-Fired-What-about-Zimbabwean-Women-and-children-by-Zimbabwe-Freedom-of-Expression.html
Mutodi Fired by E. D. Mnangagwa
without saying.  That is likely praising him, as if he was to spend one night in Joanna Mamombe's constituency, he'd surely lose more than just his little ego.

For him to laugh, joke, make light of and ridicule the abduction, torture, degrading treatment, sexual assault and rape of a sitting female MP, likely shows what kind of locker room talk him and his chums get up to; if the saying, "birds of a feather, flock together," is true and correct.

His chums in ZANU PF, not distancing themselves from him speaks volumes.  What he seems to not know is that, an attack such as that on one woman, especially an MP, like the one that the three ladies received from state actors, is an attack on the whole Parliament of Zimbabwe.

The same attack is also an actual attack on the constitution and the constituents of MP Joanna Mamombe.  Lastly, but most important of all, it is also an attack on all our Sisters, Nieces, Aunts, Female Cousins, Mothers and Grand Mothers too. 

Mutodi going, might be ok for ZANU PF.  This is likely to deflect attention from MP Joanna Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri,, and Netsai Marowa.  It is likely not as a result of his actions, because if the regime was truly against, the treatment the three beautiful young ladies and countless other women and girls in Zimbabwe receive.  The court cases to prosecute the assailants would have started by now.  

Further ZANU PF would never have suggested that they might face prosecution or arrest for protesting. 

The fact that, nothing has started (in terms of the arrest or prosecution of the assailants), and they (ZANU PF) are mute on that point, speaks volumes.  Hidden within this, and hardly talked about is the police assault in Bulawayo of, two sisters Nokuthula and Ntombizodwa Mpofu who were allegedly brutally severely assaulted by police, which therefore shows a pattern of clear consistent, repetitive, propensity to harm those who are Women and Girls.  In my opinion, this shows a total lack of moral compass in the system called ZANU PF.  

The same ZANU PF, had Mutodi and his future cell mate, Mangwana both squealed like pigs following the Chatham House, Water incident in London.  Yet in 2020, in Zimbabwe, the three young Women did not even put a molecule of water on anyone.  Yet the ZANU PF representative Energy Mutodi, has for a very, very long time acted with the same impunity the assailants have.

ZANU PF is what it is.  Horrible, Thuggery Personified; that has an unending thirst for, "orgies of violence," (as said by Jestina Mukoko) which they (ZANU PF) enjoy inflicting on innocent people for the sake of.................
Whilst ruling by fear, instead of by consent and just waiting for an outside Government or Governments to run their affaires for them. 


The joint Joint statement on human rights situation in Zimbabwe, published on 20 May 2020 was:-


 “A joint local statement.”

From the Heads of Missions in, Harare on the abduction of a sitting MP and MDC Members Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova and alleged assaults on Nokuthula and Ntombizodwa Mpofu in Bulawayo.

The Heads of Mission expected,
  1. “A swift, thorough and credible investigation.”
  2. “The perpetrators of heinous acts of this kind and other human rights violations need to be identified and prosecuted.”
  3.  All political conflicts are to be resolved through constructive dialogue.
  4. International re-engagement is contingent on genuine and sustained implementation of political and economic reforms.

Linking the Two
It is as clear as day for all to see, that Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans are not in the best of situations at all during these times.  The statement has been made by the heads of missions.  The statement is very, very welcome, however, that's just it. 

It is but just, "a statement made." 

Yet, strangely enough, our Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Aunts and female cousins are not any safer at all, regardless of where they are.  Be they in the streets of Zimbabwe, in their own houses, in their bedrooms, or in the Hospitals of the United Kingdom, (where at one point, 30% of COVID-19 deaths were made up of those of Zimbabwean descent)

As another example, even in the U.K., there are so many Zimbabweans who have died as a result of fatigue and stress of working in healthcare settings.  More recently, they have died trying to save the lives of those suffering from COVID-19.  Yet, on the 24th of April, Zimbabwean Healthcare workers numbered 29 and their numbers have continued increasing day by day, yet the likes of Britain First and Nigel Farage are given the latitude platform and have the right to dictate the policies of the British Government.  The direct result of which is leading to a multitude of women and girls from African decent being among some of the most vilified, vulnerable and marginalised in society.


All this is while some of the migrants, as a part of their Home Office application to work in the UK, they would have been forced to pay the Immigration Health surcharge, whilst they work in the NHS, Nursing Homes, Care Homes and in the homes of the most vulnerable members of society, “on the Front Lines,” as the Mainstream media likes to call it. 

The current UK Government now deciding to change the law for the said healthcare workers, is welcome, but in the UK, unfortunately for the Conservative Party, it all comes a little too late.  The policies that were implemented since the 6th of May 2010 have had their desired effects and it just goes to show the true nature of the hearts of those who implemented the policies.

In South Africa, which is host of the highest amount of Zimbabwean asylum seekers and migrants, the challenge, is so real.  The sad part is that, the sad legacy of apartheid lives on.  So the wealth inequality between the haves and the have not’s is just as real today as it was on the day, Nelson Mandela walked free and made his madden speech as the future President of, a Free South Africa.  Sadly though, there are some politicians who, instead of trying to create, jobs, jobs, jobs, and looking for real solutions, they are hell bent on populism against their own neighbours from one of the front line States.   Without doubt, yet again, Women and Children, are arguably the most marginalised.


In conclusion I really appreciate the gesture from the heads of mission.  I also really appreciate the coverage that Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans has and have had during the COVID-19 Global pandemic.  The questions that I have are,
  1. What’s next if there is no investigation? 
  2. What’s next if there is no prosecution? 
  3. What will the Zimbabwean Women, numbering less than 5000, fleeing the said violence, persecution, ridicule and possible deaths do, whilst they are in Europe, USA and the UK?
  4. Especially if the said women and girls seeking asylum in for example the UK continue to be subjected to waiting sometimes decades to continue their lives with full Humanitarian or Refugee rights in the UK immigration system.  Its sad that some have likely died as asylum seekers.
  5. Will COVID-19 change things for women from Zimbabwe all over the world, especially in Zimbabwe, as for sure, there is no place like home?
“Alas, unlike men, the body clock of women ticks by every second.”
And then they blame Bill Gates

Finally, All I ask for now, is real change.  I ask for, Real and tangible change for our Grandmothers, Mothers, Aunts, Sisters, and female cousins both in the Global First World West and in Africa, especially during these times of COVID-

Read Only¦ Zimbabwe Journalists Cry Out for More Freedom as VOA gives more coverage to Nick Mangwana

HARARE - Press freedom watchdogs say Zimbabwe’s government continues to stifle the media, despite promises by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to relax restrictions. 


Kudzanai Musengi was arrested recently as he tried to record police enforcing the lockdown rules imposed by the government to contain the coronavirus.

Police said Musengi was filming them without a valid accreditation card. The government media commission has said the 2019 cards, however, of which Musengi was in possession, are valid until the 2020 cards are issued.

The freelance journalist says his arrest is an example of how authorities prevent journalists from doing their work.
“State security arms of government seem to operate in the world of their own," he told VOA. "Many a time, they harass, they arrest journalists, which is very worrying. We have seen an upsurge of these arrests especially during the lockdown.”

Human rights groups have recorded at least 15 arrests of journalists since Zimbabwe’s lockdown began in late March.  In most cases, police said the journalists were intruding in their operations.

Nick Mangwana, the secretary of Zimbabwe’s ministry of information, told VOA that some of the arrests during the lockdown are a result of a “misunderstanding.”  He says the government regards the media as part of the “essential services.”  He added that Mnangagwa’s government is ensuring that the journalists’ legal environment improves.
“If you check in the last two years, Zimbabwe is the only country that improved in accordance of Freedom House index," he noted. "We have clearly been a different government, especially in the new dispensation (aka new deception) to the previous one, in our approach to freedom of information, and as well to the freedom of the media.”

(One wonders why the journalists being harassed are not being given more space by VOA?  Nick Mangwana is the last person to trust when it comes to unbiased news.  His Government has not even ordered an investigation into who raped, assaulted and tortured the 3 MDC young Ladies)  

For years, human rights groups and advocates for free media have classified Zimbabwe as being harsh toward journalists.  The government of longtime president Robert Mugabe was notorious for arresting journalists and shutting down news outlets who published work deemed critical of Mugabe, his allies or his wife, Grace.

When Mnangagwa took power in November 2017, he promised to change that.
But Tabani Moyo, the head of Media Institute of Southern Africa in Zimbabwe, says proposed new media laws are equally bad as the previous ones.

Most of the reforms were thrown out when the bill went before Parliament, which is ruled by Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF party. “This doesn’t show a government which is breaking with the past, but which is intolerant to divergent views, whereby the press is seen as part to contest to power and is treated as such," Moyo said.

Moyo said the arrests of the 15 journalists confirmed their fears that Zimbabwe’s government is not in favor of press freedom.


Source VOA