US announces sanctions against son of Zimbabwe’s president

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - The US imposed sanctions on four Zimbabweans, including the son of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“Today, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four Zimbabwean individuals and two Zimbabwean entities, and removed seventeen Zimbabweans from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List),” the department said in a statement on Monday.

Mnangagwa's son was put on the sanctions list for "being an immediate family member of the Zimbabwean president, OFAC-blocked Emmerson Mnangagwa."

The recent sanctions targets “human rights abusers and those who undermine democratic processes or facilitate corruption,” the statement said.

It said that the US sanctions do not target the Zimbabwean people, the country of Zimbabwe, or Zimbabwe’s banking sector.

“We urge the Zimbabwean government to take meaningful steps towards creating a peaceful, prosperous, and politically vibrant Zimbabwe, and to address the root causes of many of Zimbabwe’s ills: corrupt elites and their abuse of the country’s institutions for their personal benefit,” the statement quoted Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson as saying.

“The goal of sanctions is behavior change. Today’s actions demonstrate our support for a transparent and prosperous Zimbabwe,” Nelson said.

The announcement came a day before some 50 African leaders were due to meet in Washington for a summit.