guest column :Tendai Ruben Mbofana FOR me, the issue of targeted sanctions imposed by the US and her Western allies goes beyond mere allegations, unsubstantiated claims, and circumstantial evidence. This, however, has been the main argument of the Zimbabwean government, ever since their imposition at the dawn of the millennium, as the administration frantically attempted to connect them to the economic crisis the country had been facing since the late 1990s. I may have come across a number of stories alleging how these targeted sanctions — largely travel restrictions, as well as financial and asset, on 142 top officials and entities accused of involvement in State-sponsored violence and gross human rights abuses mainly against opponents of the government and ruling party, and electoral fraud, coupled with a ban on any transfer of defence items and services — were affecting our business community and the economy, but as far as I am concerned, none of them stood out in my mind as being incontrovertible — as they dismally failed in proving a direct link between the restrictive measures and our business community and economy. I need more than such reports. I need more than mere quotes of the former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Chester Crocker apparently saying that the imposition of these targeted sanctions was meant to cripple the economy, thereby, alienating the suffering people of Zimbabwe from their leaders, and hopefully leading to chaos, and subsequently, an illegal regime change. I need real proof, and that is precisely the information that I have been searching for and requesting, for the past several years — with minimal success, as no one has been forthcoming…from the government itself, academics, the business community, to ordinary citizens. Circumstantial evidence — no matter how strong — does not work with me, although it is a very good starting point for deeper investigation. Solely attributing the country’s failure in accessing international balance of payments financial support — which, institutions such as the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, have repeatedly stated was due to the government’s unwillingness to service its already ballooning debt, that is reportedly in the billions of United States dollars — and, the lack of significant foreign direct investment in the country, or making allegations of local exporting companies’ inability to access Western markets, does not hold any water. How then does the Zimbabwe regime account for recent investment by the United States’s John Deer company, which is now seriously involved in the country’s agricultural sector — in addition to several other businesses that have opened shop? Seriously, would John Deer set itself up in, say, Iran — a country that has endured real economic sanctions (reportedly the worst ever imposed on any country in the history of the world) — yet, has maintained a relatively strong economy, which is one of the biggest in the Middle East and North Africa (NEMA) region, and doing well globally? Thus,