Having balked from imposing "smart sanctions" on Robert Mugabe and his cabinet members for the past six months, the European Union drew the first blood last week and imposed them.
Smart sanctions mean Zimbabwean leaders will not be able to get visas to travel to the EU and their financial assets in the EU countries will be frozen. The EU will not sell any arms to Zimbabwe. There is a general understanding that selling arms to Zimbabwe could exacerbate an already deteriorating political situation. It is a good move by the EU to stem the flow of arms into the hands of merciless killers who are bent on a pogrom of dissenting groups in Zimbabwe.
As that decision to impose smart sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle was announced, the EU also pulled their election observer team out of Zimbabwe. They withdrew their observers from the Zimbabwean election process because their activities were curtailed and were not freely doing their job. The EU did not like to stain their reputation by endorsing, at the end, a highly fraudulent electoral process.
The George W. Bush administration, in a surprise show of solidarity late last week, slapped economic sanctions on Mugabe and his cabinet ministers as well. This means the Zimbabwe government's top leaders and their families will not travel to the United States. The ban from the U.S. government casts its net wider by including people who have shady business deals or who benefit in some way from such activities.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was quoted by BBC saying, "Conditions for a transparent election process in Zimbabwe have eroded."
This was a welcome relief when the strongest nation on earth showed its support for the Zimbabwean people. The ball is now in the Commonwealth court who is meeting March 1 in Australia for the heads of government meeting to take measures against the Zimbabwe government. It is high time the Commonwealth took the Zimbabwean crisis seriously and made bold decisions.
It is a shame the SADC leaders in Southern Africa have been handling Mugabe with kid gloves while many innocent people are suffering and dying. Early in the week, rowdy pro-government supporters on the campaign trail injured four South African election observers.
SADC leaders repeatedly say there are chances of free and fair elections, when the events on the ground reflect the opposite. One wonders why they have such confidence in Mugabe. Isn't this enough warning for President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and other regional leaders to act against Mugabe? It's high time the SADC punish Mugabe. Zimbabweans cannot stand such ruinous solidarity from the SADC leaders.
To make matters worse on the Zimbabwean situation, the Organization of African Unity has not said a word to Mugabe. The OAU has remained mute and one really does not know why they exist. Where are you OAU?
The time has come for Mugabe to be isolated. He should be made a political leper by SADC, the Commonwealth, EU, OAU and the world at large. We urge EU, SADC, the United States, the Commonwealth and OAU to be thinking of measures to take if Mugabe steals the election. Idi Amin was left to his own devices and the people of the east African nation of Uganda suffered. It is the world's responsibility to cure the areas of that world that hurt. Zimbabwe is hurting. Help.
Write to Weston at wmudambanuki@bsu.edu
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