Zimbabwe Economic Sanctions and Post-Colonial Hangover: A Critique of Zimbabwe Democracy Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) – 2001 a2018

Abstract

Scholarship on imperialism in Zimbabwe has not been documented in terms of establishing its roots. What has evaded contemporary researchers and academics on post-land reform programme economic sanctions of 2001 is that their roots lie in colonial domination and imperialism. The Scramble for Africa of 1884 is an adjunct of the Berlin Colonial Conference of 1884-1885 which marked long dark days of imperialism in Africa. It was about colonial domination, exploitation of mineral and extraction of natural resources. Western Europe became principal beneficiaries of newly ‘discovered’ wealth – pillaging and looting to their countries through exploitation, false pretenses, deception and outright theft. The insidious process was complemented by subjective constructs of political, social, religious and cultural domination of indigenous populations or ‘natives’ as imperialism defined unbalanced framework of economic relationships. Pronunciations like subjugation, suppression, cultural genocide, expropriation and repression have been touted by historians to highlight the depth and intensity of coloniality. The economic sanctions are part of a strategic neo-colonial era in which former colonial powers continue clutching to vein glories of the past. Yet that past is the present. Zimbabwe is being punished for reclaiming land through land reform programmes of 2001 which helped to empower Zimbabweans. In this research we look at the Janus face of Western decoloniality efforts- with specific reference to how Zimbabwe has fought ferocious battles for reclamation and restitution of its land. We also examine instruments of repression including statutes like the 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) and the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 as amended in 2018 (ZDERA). In our analytical narratives, we illustrate how the such instruments are designed to maintain imperialist status quo through specified punitive measures under ZDERA.