AU Ambassador argue USA to "remove sanctions" - hypocrite, who imposed GNU on Mugabe. N Garikai

It is easy to see why Africa is the most backward continent on earth; we have the most inward looking and incompetent leaders at both national and continent level. The complete failure by AU Ambassador to Washington, Chihombori-Quao, to understand simple facts left many of the listener to a recent panel discussion with USA Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Harry Thomas, on Voice Of America (VOA) real frustrated.

Ambassador Thomas explained the USA sanctions on Zimbabwe were implemented "as a result of the actions and policies of certain members of the government of Zimbabwe and other persons undermining democratic institutions and processes in Zimbabwe".

He reiterated that Zimbabwe's economy was in shambles due to poor policies and governance.

 Ambassador Chihombori-Quao insisted sanctions were one of the challenges that were impeding development in Zimbabwe; making the listeners wonder whether she was sitting on her ears so she could not hear.

Corruption in Zimbabwe, for example, has now reached astronomical levels; President Mugabe himself admitted $15 billion in diamond revenue was “swindled”. Even our simpleton AU Ambassador has to admit that no nation on earth can prosper given such serious corruption, especially one with a GPD of $10 billion like Zimbabwe.  

"If the sanctions are insignificant and are not contributing to the issues in Zimbabwe, why do we still have them? Remove them, and then there will be one problem out of many that would have been addressed," she argued.

The issue of free, fair and credible elections is important to every thinking Zimbabwean because it is the root cause of the country’s political paralysis and economic decline. We have been stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Mugabe regime now for 37 years because the regime has undermined the country’s democratic institutions to create a de facto one party dictatorship. The regime has denied us the people our democratic freedoms and human rights including the right to free and fair elections.

After 37 years of independence, Zimbabwe is yet to hold its first free and fair elections!

It is a great pity that Ambassador Chihombori-Quao has such poor memory otherwise she would remember that in 2008 the AU election observer team refused to accept Zimbabwe’s July 2008 presidential run-off as free and fair following the unprecedented level of barbaric violence. The AU and its regional sister-body, SADC, forced President Mugabe to go into the GNU which was then tasked to implement a raft of democratic reforms.

Ambassador Chihombori-Quao’s complete refusal to accept that the West’s targeted sanctions are highlighting Zimbabwe’s serious problem of poor governance is truly shocking particularly when both the AU and SADC know there is a problem here and it is going to rear’s ugly head again in the coming months. The 2008 to 2013 GNU failed to get even one democratic reform implemented and it a given certainty that next year’s elections in Zimbabwe not be free and fair. Another rigged election will drag Zimbabwe even deeper into economic and political chaos that may well drag the whole region and the continent into yet another African man-made tragedy!

By defending President Mugabe’s lies that sanctions and not corruption and bad governance are the root causes of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown and political chaos, she was just defending the indefensible! President Mugabe is a incompetent, corrupt and murderous tyrant and foolishness of some of our leaders at national and continental level who continue to defend these tyrants at the cost of truth and the masses is totally unacceptable.

Madam Chihombori-Quao just remember that as the AU Ambassador you represent the people of Africa and not the murderous tyrants who have imposed themselves on the people.