A quick recovery have been damaged the country now faces the worst economic and humanitarian crisis in a decade and critics question the political will to stamp out rampant corruption and human rights abuses my guest this week is involved ways minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade both used to more you as a former army chief he was also the face of the military coup that propelled him nongod what to power will zimbabwe ever be able to see genuine political and economic reform. Foreign minister see both you so much oil welcome to conflict zone thank you. You were the face of the military overthrow of Robert Mugabe back in 2017 as a commander you got on television in your uniform to assure the public of a stable transition back then you were the heroes of the hour now you have an economy close to collapse with fuel food electricity shortages where is the hope in zimbabwe right now. World thank you very much sarah yes the change in 2017 and the advent of the current government which is the 2nd dispensation was as a result of a lot of issues but among those was the issue of the economy and the disappeared the public took over an economy which had been in distress for many years for Different Reasons some of the business could be sanctions and then some of the reasons could be that of management but me say that there was hope and they still hope to go as we have got to take painful decisions to develop to 5 the economy from where it was and these political decisions are the ones which appear as if theyre making people lose hope but in reality. Getting teams right and i want to talk about you mentioned sanctions you mentioned management of the certainly issues that were going to address but right now the i. M. F. Is saying that youre in an economic and humanitarian crisis the worst economic crisis in more than a decade against that backdrop id like to talk about the priorities of your government right now because you have recently made headlines for splurging millions to purchase top of the range vehicles for nearly 50 ambassadors across the globe while the state is failing to pay Civil Servants a living wage how can you justify such a spending spree when millions are facing hunger. No the whole issue. Is is is is best on the fundamentals this economy has got very strong fundamentals and if that strong of sentiment those done what was the fall and only the issues which we are before me at the moment the economy is concerned is the is the is the currency it has been the cottons which has caused inflation but as you are well with the auction system but mr foreign minister just to bring it back because ultimately you purchased these vehicles and just to give our viewers a bit of context they were between 40. 00 and 50000. 00 per view a call when were talking about the average Civil Servant this is the middle class in your economy they are making the equivalent of 1. 80 a day and youre purchasing 40. 00 to 50000. 00 vehicles are you not out of tune with the priorities and the needs of your population with that money have been better spent elsewhere not our most sure said which theyre talking about. The one thing i announced for the new orleans very primitive we have had to ensure that our own diplomats are mobile. And that that was quite a serious issue when we took over because the conditions of our diplomacy externally was really the 2 of. Collapse because they were. Moving with their were moving with. Something which is not. Appropriate for the deployment was assigned for admission and therefore by variables for the deployments was quite one of those measures which you were talking to address the situation of our diplomats before you had made it a 2nd look. It doesnt look good in an economy where were 63 percent of the population live below the poverty line yeah but whatever the cost of those there cause was not to necessarily the issue which is caused the economy to be way tease the corner me has been like this we are. Forming a we are undertaking specific key decisions which are oriented to the economy and among them is the double as they should of the senate but were also doing a lot of the economy to the forms which ensures that even the Investor Development community is free to come in within the much our mantra of was open for business lets talk a little bit more about that mantra and those reforms that you have been making in order to get the economy back on track because as you mentioned you promised that the economy would be open for business id like to begin on the economic front with your currency reforms because a really big source of tension right now has been the reintroduction of your local currency last year after a decade of official use of the u. S. Dollar very quickly that local currency rapidly lost value at 10 prices rocketing raising fears of renewed hyper inflation but you have been. Quoted as saying the following that the return of the zimbabwean dollar is basically stabilizing the economy from what it was. Is that really a message thats appropriate to send to the people of your country when the price of almost everything has ballooned a loaf of bread can essentially gobble up a few expansion cell the scenario which is happening on the ground is that this economy had norm wanted a policy. Way of fixing it it only had to fiske of the fiscal side and therefore the 2 what one systems of fixing the economy both the fiscal and the Monetary Policy had to be. Adjusted and thats why we head to introduce our own currency and our own currency is critical for our own people in terms of economy planning and in terms of expenditure years we are facing challenges because of the changes we had to do in place and the did challenges have been that our currency was not stable and therefore we had to have been lucky measures such measures which are to stubble as are going to be in this year with introduce the. Excuse me foreign minister i just want to follow up with you and ask you because to address some of this criticism though and the way that you rolled out this currency because we have a condom a saying that you rushed to reintroduce it without the backing of a foreign currency the i. M. F. Cites missteps in Foreign Exchange and monetary reforms that have failed to restore confidence Chatham House also saying that it is had limited results do you have any regrets not at all in fact. It is appropriate and it was an appropriate decision that we introduced the hour or. So that. You can cite with Foreign Exchange operations and the that has been the desire of this government so we not only trying to eliminate remember we have been in this period for some time before and this. Did up when there was shortages when there were issues a lot of issues which would put outside the control independent of the. Authorities because of that it was important that we introduce our currency in our currency which is ok supposed to operate. With the u. S. Dollar just briefly foreign minister id like to ask you because you mentioned in the beginning of our conversation that one of one of the ills that is affecting your economy is sanctions weve actually had your president saying that their impact on our daily lives is a measurable that the consequences are dire but are they really because. Or is there just your government just continuing to perpetuate a false narrative here as a convenient scapegoat the United States for example says they only have 141. 00 individuals or come for companies singled out in your country right now in a country of 16000000. Not at all sara do all government of sanctions it to this country has caused this serious and intended consequences i have always called it a weapon of mass destruction because this is a dead out which exists now is. A study instrument or act on zimbabwe specifically that it shall not access in external support from either the i. M. F. World bank or other International Financial institutions and the because of that its means that the risk of. Perceived risk of this country whenever these that hinging aspect of a sanction means it is higher it deters investors would lead to coming to this country despite the fact that as a mole was open for business which has been propagated by president a muslim now governor and therefore we believe that these sanctions are now is relevant it is fire is the situation isnt by with its content but there are causing untold sufferings not probably to the if you live but particularly to tell must population of the people and thats not is refuted by the European Union in order the United States however i would just like to ask you because youre continuing at that with this narrative and by blaming the west for your countrys problems arent you actually shooting yourself in the foot i mean you mentioned that you need foreign capital because the truth is you need very engaged in order to improve your economy which is saddled with billions of dollars in debt at the advent of the 7 the public president clearly articulated us Foreign Policy objectives and that was a reengagement engagement basically he was saying we must. Be a friend to everyone and that we must be and they need to know one and that zimbabwe was open for business and the whole objective of that process was to ensure that we are members of the family of nations walkin and who can. Allow the companies particularly from the west to come in and invest in zimbabwe and the west is encouraging and that is developed up to drive to ensure that company is from the u. S. From the European Union from all of these countries from germany should come into the bubble so that they can be able to invest and opportunities that have been say that zimbabwe is probably presenting. The best vest with but you need to promote investment which emerges for the movers in the International Community however now that is. That investment for Many International partners one of the precursors for that is the fact that many want you to tackle corruption in your country on july 11th president and he once again he declared war on corruption as he did in 2017 post his takeover speech and his in his inaugural speech after the 28000 election so i would like to ask you why should zimbabweans and the International Community believe that these are more than just shallow for is this i mean theyre phrases that have been around for a while these are not just phrases. The president do when he. Particularly made his detriment on the undercard day was clear and in terms of direction in which were talking of corruption and a quarter of is something which we are at to mourn and not just something which is the radical and youre aware that already. 2 cabinet ministers have been reined. In im not at all original paul bedard inevitable how is it not their radical mr foreign minister when youve had when youve had more than 2 years in office and several arrests have been made that there have been no convictions to date no convictions to date and even the president acknowledges that there is a socalled catch and release system in place yes but remember we have what separation of powers but do you know the exact deval selves and the judiciary and therefore when people have been arrested and will be charged and everything it is then that is the responsibility of the judiciary to handle the cases particularly the prosecution side so that if they do this with the cases. They are being given the court dates and did they have been appearing in court of moment and do we believe that we. Should and the not theorising of the whole process is when many people believe in fact it is the 1st time that she has been handled head on in this country than ever before ok so lets look at a very high profile case a concrete case on corruption and that is the case of coulda tog theory he is the boss of such a holdings it is said to have purchased buses from a Chinese Company and then resold them to the government at twice the price its costing your citizens a lot of money he apparently made a 54000000. 00 profit here tell us. Is this an example of the type of business practice that needs to be investigated because theres talk that he got this contract without a proper process of procurement i think that is a misinformed position as far as were concerned and if theres been any. Kind of campaign it should have been the body to do this mobil and the Corruption Commission but that is what has been reported by the end the ravishing information or former youth leaders in fact reported it to your anti Corruption Commission the i. M. F. Reportedly also privately warned zimbabwe that the state payouts of seclude were quote undermining trust in the economy you are pushing it and your target having fears of the highest levels of government why not just investigate. Earth. Because hes politically connected. Not at all in fact. Talking about the issue of buses those buses. A way of bought from. What is the this of of and it was a deal of the bus company here in zimbabwe not even. Out of china that it but through the argument we had supplied buses be full into this country and with bill is there will is it is to contract and these buses were bought when ordered and ordered 3 and it delivered that our transport system is efficient more so under the covered snoddy so. There was like there wont be an investigation there everythings above them. So mr foreign minister then let me. Just let me ask you about another case where everything does not appear to be above board we also have to mention this high profile case which is currently ongoing that your Health Minister who would fire this month for Inappropriate Conduct after he was accused of illegally awarding a multimillion dollar contract for covert 1000. 00 medical supplies and just to give a Reference Point these masks were apparently costing the government 28. 00 per mask theres been public uproar over this hes facing 15 years in prison if convicted will your citizens see real consequences well that is exactly the testimony all for how the the corruption drive in this country is because he is been arrested and he has been charged and therefore it means. And what he says. No no no no its not being caught and released remember this is justice in this country hes going to appear in court and of the of that is going to be presented and then it to be up to the judiciary. To convict him or not but thats does not is not the disposability of of of this sort of. Ok mr foreign minister id like to turn to another issue now and that is the issue of human rights particularly the issue of freedom of assembly has been criticized in your country the president has said that everyone in zimbabwe has the right to express themselves freely to criticize to protest but i just like to bring in one example because these are the protests back in early 2019 Security Forces responded reportedly with lethal force killing at least 17 people raping at least 17 women shooting and injuring 81 people or arresting over 1000 suspected protesters during door to door raids that doesnt sound like an ideal condition for people to express themselves freely or does it say you. Well let me assure you. And all the viewers that this government and the constitution of this country clearly article is all the right threats all through the Assembly Freedom of expression freedom of religion and so on and besides that theres been a lot of emphasis in terms of. Embedding these rights among the people but there is no freedom in the constitution or in demonstrations or protest there is no freedom. Of. Bending peoples cars and of the like that but it must be this which respects other peoples rights as well lets talk about other peoples rights out of interfering and also just to acknowledge the violence in this case was against the protesters they were the ones who experienced the fatalities but lets talk about the rights of others and turn to another case. A crackdown on dissent and this happened in may when 3 female opposition activists were on their way to participate in a peaceful protest organized by the opposition they were reportedly stopped at a Police Checkpoint in harare subsequently abducted by state agents tortured sexually assaulted a very high profile case in your country is this what opposition leaders can expect in your country theyve subsequently been arrested themselves they havent even received an investigation into what happened to them. Said it must you must be very careful when you are mad at these assertions because in the 1st place we were in because it peeled and because of the cost eat you cannot have done with sessions of or a symbol for about 50 people in town now if you breach but the law in that regard and you then cause a danger to the rest of the population in terms of the instructions it is you are fitting other peoples rights to life which is not in up it which is not appropriate and the other step of the issue is that you you believe at the moment that agency is up to those women but this is a must which is under investigation and this if im going to start this i have truly been produced as been produced by the minister of commerce says which is clearly that this could be leading to one of those issues which is take money to while in the nation are already done event ok but if the United Nations is calling for their release its also not my assessment its the assessment of the un but id just like to ask you generally speaking because international n. G. O. S they describe a lack of political will when it comes to instituting reforms in your country i just like to quote Human Rights Watch it says the following zimbabwes failure to decisively deal with cases of abductions disappearances and torture severely undermines the standing of the country within the International Community the country needs to end in pune a day if symbolic way is to be respected failure to do so undermines the countrys reengagement efforts with the International Community how can you possibly convince the International Community thats involved ways open for business when these assessments are so damning. Appreciate that but you must understand exactly where these are being provocative from in the way that they coming from mainly the opposition in this country has got this strategy of at position by stage managing events which we should our clock to the International Community. As eyes and consent and in the reality when theres not been any of such an abduction the example is the mobile bay the doctor and even the current lead is something which is under investigation which i dont want to do continue really delving in in it but i can assure you of that we have made reforms and this is the reforms i had to be in place you are aware that the west has been very concerned about the pasta and that pasta has been repealed the west has been concerned about a plan and that has been repealed and there is progress in the forms and we are saying that this is the reforms in the study being undertaken for the for the sake of. The International Community or the western. Capitals but there also are being done for the benefit of all on people so that they should benefit our own people and that this government the 2nd the public zimbabwean foreign minister genuinely pursuing zimbabwe in foreign minister says he is a lawyer we have to leave it there thank you for joining us on conflicts on. Thank you. Whats going on here. If youre feeling only from a printer. Computer games that are killing. My dog needs electricity. To deliver. The future holds. Living in the Digital World shift. In 15 minutes on d w. In good shape. There is no cure for a child to. Ask how can one lead to normal life with the potential down. They are working on a vaccine reza therapeutic drugs. And me be able to defeat the virus one day. And think they are leading essential that should. Certainly spawn d. W. Personal drama competition rivalry marketing numbers atmosphere power fight thats not intuition love hate money. Fans friends fans and unfound told to go off on you tube join us. This is some dope story a stubborn rice farmer from thailand. His problem pests. His credo no chemicals. His wife thought it was crazy. And i bought ducks. No. Orders. For pests dont stand a chance. Bryce is. History and he has the finest production to top it off. Successful. Start turning 27. The state of new news live from berlin waiting on a deal in brussels a new leaders are haggling over new proposals on how to divvy up a 750000000000 dural Coronavirus Recovery Fund there is agreement on the need for the release but some leaders are warning against tending out a free lunch also coming up. A french cathedral and plane itself