Mugabe slams EU, US for sanctions

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has fired a verbal salvo against the US and the European Union over sanctions imposed on the country’s ruling party.

Noting conspiracies by the Western countries to oust him from office and to impose their own will on the Zimbabwean nation, Mugabe said on Sunday the West refrains from recognizing the sovereignty and independence of the southern African nation, Reuters reported.

Mugabe made the remarks at the funeral of his sister, who was a lawmaker and a political ally.

“We say to hell, to hell, hell with them,” he said.

“We are still being treated as if we don’t own this country. They want to tell us, do A, B and C of that, remove so-and-so and they are now saying Mugabe must go first,” he added.

The remarks were a sideswipe at the EU sanctions imposed on President Mugabe and some 100 of his associates, which include an arms embargo, travel bans, as well as asset freezes, first introduced in 2002.

Financial sanctions and several other travel restrictions have also been imposed by the United States on Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, the 86-year-old leader noted he was determined to further expand the black ownership across all sectors of the economy.

“This is the fight we must fight in an all-Zimbabwe way,” Mugabe reiterated.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980.