BULAWAYO — The inclusive government is trying to persuade the European Union (EU) to suspend sanctions on some of the 40 companies that were linked to President Robert Mugabe’s regime, a cabinet minister said last week. The EU imposed restrictive measures on more than 240 individuals closely associated with President Robert Mugabe as part of efforts to push for democratic reforms in Zimbabwe and end the abuse of human rights.

Companies that were targeted include some parastatals such as the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Zisco), the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and the Zimbabwe Defence Industries.

Other affected companies were those controlled by Zanu PF and its associates.

But Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office said it was time the sanctions were reviewed in line with the new political dispensation.

Moyo said one of the reasons some of the parastatals were included on the list was because they were used by the previous administration to fund repression but their operations had changed with the formation of the unity government.

“We are engaging the European Union as the government of Zimbabwe. Our engagements are in many facets including that of the lifting of sanctions imposed on about 40 companies prior to the establishment of this government,” Moyo told a meeting organised by Bulawayo Agenda to review the performance of the coalition formed in February.

“All we are saying is that while we appreciate that these companies played a bigger role in sustaining Mugabe’s government, there is need now to review the situation and see what can be done to help save these companies from imminent collapse.”

Zisco is courting foreign investors to resuscitate its operations weighed down by years of economic collapse, while ZMDC is overseeing diamond mining in the Chiadzwa area of Manicaland.

Moyo said they were trying to impress upon the EU bloc to understand that some of the companies were simply taking orders from the government of the day.

He said if the campaign succeeds, the government will put in place measures to ensure that state-owned enterprises were not abused by politicians again.

“We have in place various strategies that we want to put in place to ensure that these companies play a leading role in the resuscitation of the economy,” Moyo said.

“We are advocating for the lifting of the sanctions so that these companies can play that role that we all expect them to play in the development of the economy.”

However, the minister bemoaned the slow pace of economic reforms saying it was affecting the revival of Zimbabwe’s once vibrant economy.

Moyo said despite a promising start during the first half of the year the economic turnaround had slowed down due to unending disputes in the unity government.