Kenya urges world to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe

Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday called on the international community to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe, saying the restrictions were hurting the southern African nation.

Kenyatta, who spoke in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, when he hosted visiting Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, termed the sanctions as illegal, and assured Harare of Nairobi’s continued advocacy to ensure that the restrictions are lifted.

“We have continued to emphasize our strong determination to continue with our support of Zimbabwe against the illegal sanctions that have been imposed on that country and continue to cause undue problems, issues and trouble for the people of Zimbabwe and this we consider to be unfair,” he said during a joint briefing with Mnangagwa.

Kenyatta said these hardships are artificially created and reiterated his call on the international community to remove these illegal economic sanctions which were imposed in 2003 by Western nations.

“We consider this to be unfair because these hardships are artificially created and we continue to call on the international community to remove these illegal sanctions,” he said.

Mnangagwa, who is on a three-day visit to Kenya to shore up bilateral relations between the two countries, lauded Kenyatta for his support and call for the removal of sanctions placed upon his country, terming the restrictions as unilateral.

“I thank Kenya for the support of solidarity for Zimbabwe in the call for the unconditional removal of unilateral sanctions that were imposed on Zimbabwe by some western countries,” he said.

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Xinhua