US Tells Zimbabwe - Reforms First before we Remove your Sanctions

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The newly appointed United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Brian Nichols, says that Zimbabwe must follow through on promised reforms if it wants U.S. sanctions on the country to be lifted.

In an interview Friday at the Voice of America’s Washington headquarters, the diplomat told Marvelous Mhlanga-Nyahuye of VOA’s Zimbabwe Service that the newly elected administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa will get the U.S. government's full support if it implements legal changes it promised during the election campaign.

Nichols said those reforms include observing the rule of law and allowing citizens such freedoms as access to information and free speech.

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump renewed sanctions against Zimbabwe and set out steps the country needed to take to have them removed. The presidential act, called the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Act of 2018, also known as Zidera, set one such condition as ensuring that July’s national elections were free and fair.

Following those elections, the ruling ZANU-PF was declared the winner, but the opposition challenged the results, claiming fraud. The Constitutional Court in August ruled against the opposition’s claims of election rigging.

The election, which many said was peaceful compared to previous elections, was not free of violence. The army reportedly used live ammunition and killed at least six people during opposition protests of the vote.

Nichols said he has met both Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa and looks forward to working with both men.

“I think they are both people who love their country and are committed to improving Zimbabwe and changing many of the problems of the past,” he said.