President Emmerson Mnangagwa has claimed he met United States (US) President Joe Biden and realised he was more willing to improve relations with Zimbabwe than their embassy in Harare.
Although Mnangagwa claimed he met Biden at the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland no photo of the meeting taking place has surfaced yet
The Zimbabwean leader said he was pleasantly surprised that “the spirit that he (Biden) has towards Zimbabwe is totally different” from the attitude of the US embassy in Harare.
He added that Biden was organising a formal meeting with him.
“I had an opportunity to chat with President Joe Biden and the spirit which he has towards Zimbabwe is totally different from what we see from the US embassy in Harare.
“In fact, he called a staffer and said ‘please make sure that I have a chat with the President (referring to President Mnangagwa),” Mnangagwa said.
Relations between the two countries soured when Zimbabwe was put under targeted sanctions after the US enacted the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) of 2001.
The US blamed the Zanu PF regime for rampant corruption, economic mismanagement and massive human rights abuses. But the regime also blames sanctions for causing the economic problems that Zimbabweans face.
Posting on Twitter last week, the US said the current economic crisis is a result of mismanagement and corruption.
“Blaming sanctions is a convenient scapegoat to distract the public from the real reasons behind Zimbabwe’s economic challenges – corruption, economic mismanagement, and failure to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law.
“Failed economic policies and corruption, not sanctions, hinder Zimbabwe’s economic growth: Billions of dollars have been lost due to decades of corruption and harmful economic policies which have culminated in the current economic crisis. Zimbabwe has had both prosperous and difficult years during the life of the targeted sanctions program. Implementation of economic and political reforms are the key to improving Zimbabwe’s trajectory,” said the embassy.
