Russia and Zimbabwe have had a close relationship for the long time, and one of the issues that they share in common of late is the US sanctions.
The US signed an executive order on March 6, 2014, that authorised sanctions on individuals and entities “responsible for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
It was said at the time that the sanctions placed restrictions on the travel of certain individuals and officials responsible for the situation in Crimea.
On March 17, 2014, another executive order that blocked the property of additional people "contributing to the situation in Ukraine" followed this. On December 19, 2014, the US President signed another executive order, which increased the diplomatic and financial costs of Russia’s actions towards Ukraine.
The US imposed targeted sanctions, limiting certain financing to six of Russia’s largest banks and four energy companies.
“We have also suspended credit finance that encourages exports to Russia and financing for economic development projects in Russia and are now prohibiting the provision, exportation, or re-exportation of goods, services (not including financial services), or technology in support of exploration or production for deep-water, Arctic offshore, or shale projects that have the potential to produce oil in the Russian Federation, or in maritime area[s] claimed by the Russian Federation and extending from its territory, and that involve five major Russian energy companies,” it said.
Further executive orders were issued on April 1, 2015, and December 28, 2016.
Choking
In March 2022, the United States and its allies introduced a raft of sanctions to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“We’ve targeted Russia’s largest banks, cut them off from the U.S. financial system, and frozen their assets,” said the US Department of State.
“They are blacklisted globally, and the Russian financial system - its principal connection to international trade and investment - has been tarred. Our export controls choked off Russia’s vital technological imports,” the department continued.
“This is not what we wanted to do. This is not the best outcome for the people of Ukraine or Russia.”
The US also sanctioned Russia’s diamond trade followed by the EU and the G7, which banned the trading of the country’s diamonds in its territories.
Just like Russia, Zimbabwean leaders and top businesspeople aligned with the regime in Harare were slapped with sanctions by the US in early March. The US released truncated statements concerning the Zimbabwe sanctions, a move that first sparked celebrations in Harare and later dejection.
US President Joe Biden was the first to announce that he had scrapped the sanctions programme that his country had used to impose measures on Zimbabwe since 2003. The scrapping of the executive orders paved the way for a new set of measures under a different sanctions regime known as the Global Magnitsky Programme.
It designated 11 Zimbabwean individuals and three entities, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, businessman Kuda Tagwirei, and deputy security chief Walter Tapfumaneyi.
These were sanctioned for their alleged connection to corruption or serious human rights abuses.
“We continue to have concerns regarding serious cases of corruption and human rights abuse in Zimbabwe,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“Key individuals, including members of the Government of Zimbabwe, bear responsibility for these actions, including the looting of government coffers that robs Zimbabweans of public resources. Multiple cases of abductions, physical abuse, and unlawful killing have left citizens living in fear.”
The measures include travel bans and asset freezes, the same as under the previous regime of sanctions.
Gold and diamond smuggling
The US Department of the Treasury said it sanctioned President Mnangagwa as he was allegedly “involved in corrupt activities, in particular those relating to gold and diamond smuggling networks.”
“Mnangagwa provides a protective shield to smugglers to operate in Zimbabwe and has directed Zimbabwean officials to facilitate the sale of gold and diamonds in illicit markets, taking bribes in exchange for his services,” said the department.
An investigation by Al Jazeera called Gold Mafia alleged that there was a lot of gold smuggling in the country. The government first refuted the claims but later announced the freezing of the assets of some of the implicated individuals.
President Mnangagwa's ambassador-at-large, Uebert Madzanire, popularly known as Uebert Angel, also claimed in the documentary that he asked for “appreciation” for the president, whom he said was not corrupt.
"That guy (Mnangagwa) doesn't take bribes; oh no, he won't. There is a big difference between appreciating somebody and bribing,” said Madzanire. “You know, at this level, people don't bribe anybody; you get my point. He is not that kind of person. When somebody gets that money ($240 million) to spend on an election campaign, you give one million, it's like a slap in the face, unless you say thank you."
The US Treasury Department claimed that Zimbabwe’s First Lady “facilitates her husband’s corrupt activities.”
The department said that businessman Kuda Tagwirei is a close ally of President Mnangagwa and has a longstanding association with the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). He allegedly provided high-value gifts to senior members of the Government of Zimbabwe to gain access to resources and exert significant control over major sectors of Zimbabwe’s economy, including mining.
Comrades
As the US sanctioned Zimbabwe, it looked for closer diplomatic and economic ties with countries such as Russia, Belarus and China.
Chinese and Russian companies capitalised on this “all-weather” friendship as they obtained mining claims in areas such as diamonds, lithium, gold and platinum.
Zimbabwe recently received a donation of 25,000 metric tonnes of wheat and an additional 10 tonnes of fertiliser by Russia.
The donation was part of Russia’s 200,000 metric tonnes of aid to six African countries including Mali, Burkina Faso, Eritrea and the Central African Republic (CAR) announced at last year’s Russia-Africa Summit.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
