So, whilst they subtly seek to drive wedges between the people and the Government, they also seek to intensify the pressure on Government by way of sanctions or what they call “restrictive measures”. In this approach, they are mirroring the sentiment reflected in the now infamous utterances of the former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Dr Chester Crocker when he testified before the US Senate, advocating the imposition of sanctions against Zimbabwe. He said, “to separate the Zimbabwean people from ZANU-PF, we are going to have to make their economy scream and I hope you, senators have the stomach for what you have to do”. The stereo type approach and largely repetitive responses from Baroness Sugg – Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the British Foreign Office to comments and questions from their Lordships, reflect also the distance which the British Government deliberately maintains towards the New Dispensation; and their stubborn refusal to acknowledge or recognise any of the progress achieved by Government since it assumed office in November 2017.
Of note is that the Baroness chose to inform the venerable House that the UK is currently in the process of considering future sanctions on Zimbabwe – once it exits from the European Union and now it has armed itself with its own “Sanctions and Money Laundering Act”.
As already stated by the Chief Whip, notably one of the principal items of interest in the debate was the arrest of Henrietta Rushwaya. But their Lordship’s focus was more on the fact that the lady-in-question is said to be a relative of His Excellency the President than on the swift and commendable actions of law-enforcement agencies, to arrest, detain and arraign her before the courts on serious charges of corruption, fraud and smuggling.
Their Lordships spent quite some time on the issue of corruption in Zimbabwe. One eminent Peer, Lord St John of Bletso, stated that there have been “no prosecutions for corruption” in Zimbabwe and even asked what measures the British Government was taking to get South Africa to get involved in Zimbabwean affairs.
It is this kind of ignorance, accompanied by the usual British arrogance and condescension which I believe Mr. Speaker, all Zimbabweans from whatever political persuasion they might hail –should find deeply that offensive, intrusive and completely unacceptable.
We note without comment Mr. Speaker, serious and to our knowledge, as yet unresolved allegations of gross corruption with regards to the award of Covid-19 related contracts to companies “closely linked to senior figures in the (UK) Government” with at least two multi-million pound contracts being awarded to “dormant companies”.
Let me also point out Mr. Speaker Sir, my research has shown that the Corporate Tax Haven Index published by the Tax Justice Network shows that the three countries that have done the most to facilitate tax fraud, tax avoidance and tax-related grand theft are the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands – all of them British territories. Jersey, a British dependency comes 7th on the list. All are satellites of the City of London: astonishingly, the City of London is “exempt” from, the UK’s Freedom of Information laws creating further layers of secrecy and opportunities for all manner of nefarious activity. Their Lordships and the Baroness spent time as well on the issue of human rights in Zimbabwe and on the issue of “people being held accountable for their actions”.
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Zimbabwe will never be a colony again