A HOST of activities have been lined up for the Anti-Sanctions Day slated for Wednesday with President Mnangagwa expected to deliver a televised speech to denounce the illegal measures.
A series of local activities will be conducted on the day including marches with a musical gala to be held in Mt Darwin.
The Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services is also hosting a two-day SADC Anti-Sanctions solidarity summit in Mutoko, headlined by a media indaba and business expo.
The annual commemorations were set aside by SADC at its 39th Summit of Heads of State and Government in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2019.
Southern African countries in solidarity with Zimbabwe will again mobilise a spirited regional voice in denouncing and calling for the unconditional removal of the illegal sanctions.
SADC chairperson and Angolan President João Lourenço and individual countries from the region are also expected to issue statements to mark the day in solidarity with Zimbabwe.
Broad Alliance Against Sanctions co-founder Mr Calvern Chitsunge said the illegal economic sanctions are affecting ordinary Zimbabweans and called for their unconditional removal.
“We are failing to have credit lines as a nation, sanctions are not a modern way of solving differences. The United Nations clearly stated that the sanctions are illegal but it should now exercise its right to have them removed using its statutes,” he said.
Former MDC-T spokesperson, who returned to Zanu PF, Mr Witness Dube, yesterday said the Anti-Sanctions Day is important for every progressive Zimbabwean.
“We should escalate its (Anti-Sanctions Day) importance until its agenda is legislated through outstanding United Nations treaties. That will ensure that no other nation on earth will ever be punished by another on account of its sovereign wealth,” he said.
A Rushinga businessman Mr Tafadzwa Kudzengwa said the sanctions should be removed unconditionally.
“We the ordinary people in rural areas are bearing the brunt of these illegal sanctions. Due to sanctions, the education sector in rural areas is at stake as teachers are struggling to make ends meet and opt to stay in urban areas,” he said.
A farmer from Chakari, Mrs Agnes Hondo, said it was time the Western world removed the sanctions and be a friend to Zimbabwe.
“They actually have more to gain in being friends with Zimbabwe than enemies. We are blessed with natural resources like lithium on high demand worldwide which we should equally enjoy for mutual benefit. The West should simply ride on the Second Republic’s mantra of being a friend to all and enemy to none,” she said.
African leaders recently took advantage of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to call for the removal of illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has been under the yoke of sanctions from the United States under the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001.
The EU also introduced its own sanctions in February 2002.
A study commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade estimates that the country could have lost up to US$42 billion in revenue over the past 20 years due to the sanctions.
This year’s Anti-Sanctions Day will be held under the theme, “Harnessing the Youth for Accelerated Socio-Economic Development in the Fight Against Sanctions” as Government takes on board young people in the fight against the illegal economic sanctions.
