VOA – English

Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Minister Retired Major General Sibusiso Moyo says post-election violence [PEV] in the country should not be “allowed to blemish the peaceful, free and credible elections” held recently.

Addressing journalists in Harare about the United States’ Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Bill passed into law a few days ago by President Donald Trump, Moyo said Zimbabwe has achieved some of the issues raised by ZIDERA, including the holding of what he says are credible elections.

“… Travel bans of many Zimbabweans in leadership and some uniformed service senior officials remain, as they are banned from entering US territory, in addition, the assets of many Zimbabweans can be confiscated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control at any time, furthermore impairing the conduct of bilateral commercial relations.”

He noted that as per some new provisions of the ZIDERA passed by the U.S Congress and signed into law by Trump, several non-governmental organizations drawn from the United States and other nations observed the just-ended harmonized polls unlike what used to happen under former President Robert Mugabe, who was removed from office in a defacto military coup last November.

“The holding of free, fair and violence free elections answers even more of ZIDERA’s queries of governance in Zimbabwe. Post-election violence on 1 August 2018 should not be allowed to blemish the peaceful, free, fair and credible elections. Neither should any other events blemish our recent harmonized elections.

“Therefore, the recently signed ZIDERA Amendment Act (2018) is unfortunate in that we would rather there were no restrictive measures and sanctions in our bilateral relations with the United States. That said, I wish to point out that there are some progressive aspects to the Amendment Act as well as some unfortunate and unhelpful ones.”

Moyo claimed that “the rule of law, freedom of expression, free and fair elections have already been accomplished in the new dispensation. Reforms of political and economic laws are ongoing endeavors in the new dispensation.

“The unprogressive aspect of the amended act refer to some issues which are being addressed by the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.”

He said despite the latest version of the ZIDERA, Zimbabwe would continue to re-engage the United States “as we together seek to restore our bilateral relations to normalcy.”

America imposed restrictive measures on some Zanu PF officials and companies linked to the ruling party following allegations of electoral fraud and human rights abuses.