New sanctions targeting Zimbabwe’s President, not its people, according to the US government

Written by Mariana Hinojosa Castillo | March 14 2024

On March 4, 2024, President Biden issued an executive order terminating the national emergency declaration on Zimbabwe. Although this implied the removal of a two-decade sanctions program, the order was accompanied by the announcement of new sanctions for Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his wife, eleven senior government officials, and three companies.  

The United States (US) Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control clarified that the modifications in travel and asset restrictions are part of refocused efforts to combat human rights abuses and corruption in the country. Additionally, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo highlighted the limited nature of the sanctions. “The changes we are making today are intended to make clear what has always been true: our sanctions are not intended to target the people of Zimbabwe,” Adeyemo said.

The Zimbabwe sanctions program began in 2003 when President George W. Bush issued a series of executive orders in response to the actions and policies of Zimbabwe’s government. At the time, the US determined that the latter were not only underminers of Zimbabwe’s democracy but also a threat to US foreign policy. However, this was not the country’s first experience under US sanctions. During the early 1990s, President Robert Mugabe and officials of his administration became the subject of similar financial and travel restrictions. 

The development in Zimbabwe’s sanction journey had mixed reactions. Zambia’s President Hichilema saw Biden’s order as evidence of his attention to African partners’ voices and a sign of hope for Zimbabwe’s regional engagement. A spokesman for the Mnangagwa administration, Nick Mnangagwa, described the lifting of old sanctions as a great vindication of President Mnangagwa’s Foreign Policy but called the new tariffs “illegal”.
President Mnangagwa came to power in 2017 through a military coup that ended President Mugabe’s 37-year-long administration. High unemployment rates, inflation, and currency shortages characterized his first term. Nevertheless, the government of Zimbabwe has regularly blamed economic tariffs for the crippling economic and development environment in the country. Although there is no conclusive evidence on the causal relationship between sanctions and unemployment and poverty, UN human rights experts have pointed out the sanctions’ failure to bring political change while deepening the suffering of ordinary people.