Nevanji Munyaradzi Chiondegwa
Binance became the second Cryptocurrency after Coinbase to tell a Zimbabwean that he could not invest with them merely because he was a Zimbabwean citizen.
This puts paid to claims by the United States Embassy, Delegation of the European Union in Zimbabwe and British Embassy and of course their local quislings who have maintained that sanctions on Zimbabwe are targeted.
A number of gullible Zimbabweans have believed and been sold the story of targeted sanctions despite the numerous examples of non-politically exposed persons who have been affected in their business one way or the other.
The latest is a young Zimbabwean currently resident in the United Kingdom.
Againstprof Makuyana aka Tichatonga Nzekete is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants(SAICA).
For his undergraduate studies, he was also in South Africa. He is from humble beginnings but believes in his education taking him places as it has surely done. He has been to the United States of America on employment as well as the United Kingdom where he is now resident.
However, as a proud patriot, he has not forsaken his citizenship like others nor has he peddled falsehoods about Zimbabwe or claimed false persecution.
He is suave and techno-savvy. He is interested in all kinds of investments and stocks.
He has not been left behind in the latest investment craze, the binary currency called Cyrpto currency.
So like all people from Elon Musk to mark Zuckerberg he also invested in the binary currency.
However, that was the beginning of all his troubles and that was when he realised, being Zimbabwean meant being restricted from the new big thing.
Binance wrote to him saying: “We understand your frustration. However, we are not in the position to provide any additional details, except that had been already provided in the previous email-you have been identified yourself as Zimbabwean National in your submitted document and as a result, we are unable to serve you further in accordance with our Terms of Use”
“Kindly note that the trading function is not available for this account. As such, we recommend for you withdraw your assets in their original form – (in other words, he lost all his gains and interests for merely being Zimbabwean)
“Please withdraw all the funds as soon as possible within the next 3 days. Afterward, your Binance Account account will be permanently deactivated….”
According to Makuyana, “They tried to avoid telling me why they invaded my investments until they realised I wasn’t giving up. This is the second Crypto Exchange to seize my assets after Coinbase.”
He further tweeted tagging Prosper Mwedzi, a lawyer, blockchain and digital assets consultant, “This is what I have been telling you @prosmoon-the way that other Coinbase email was written, it’s clear they are receiving pressure or directive from somewhere to act against all Zimbabwean regardless of where they are based. Do we need to keep speculating?
Makuayana was unrelenting, he further tweeted, “Contrary to @usembassyharare and @UkinZimbabwe rhetoric that their sanctions are targeted- their own USA & UK authorities are cracking down in Financial Services Providers that transact with Zimbabweans even Zimbos living outside Zimbabwe!”
Gondai Mutongi responded, “This is what we have been saying all along, Western sanctions are not targeted at individuals. They are targeted at the whole of Zimbabwe. They are targeted at all Zimbabweans. They cripple everyone.”
Enough evidence can be extracted from the internet, Facebook and Twitter of Zimbabweans whose investments or business have been affected by sanctions.
Even Strive Masiyiwa the telecoms tycoon made mentions of how sanctions have affected him and his business and the usual quislings attacked and accused him of dining with ZANU PF.
It is funny that even as Makuyana was raising his issue, certain Zimbabweans found it necessary to attack him and score political points even as he indicated how much he had lost.
This is the sad tale of us as citizens as aptly captured by Rutendo Matinyarare in response to the tweets by Againstprof Makuyana. Matinyarare writes, “We have been saying to Zimbabweans that sanctions are on all Zimbabwean and they have refused. However, if you want these things to end you need to join others fighting this legally and stop hiding. Every time you hide your name, you empower discrimination instead of helping”
We have people who think that because they have a different political leaning from the national leadership, they can not call sanctions evil, harmful and bad to the country.
They would rather believe the US Embassy lies that the sanctions are targeted yet there is ample proof that shows otherwise. Why a Zimbabwean would celebrate the demise of another merely because they have different political inclinations is beyond some of us.
It is time we all came together and understood Zimbabwe is our country and our country is under siege. We need to join hands and fight the lifting of the siege imposed by the sanctions regime on ZImbabwe. Sanctions affect us all not selected individuals. It is fallacious to claim that the sanctions affect certain individuals only.
If it can happen to Makuyana, losing £5000 in the process, ask yourself, how much is it costing the country as a whole?
In a month, Makuyana has been robbed of £5000, how much more has been lost by the country’s economy through evil sanctions?
Food for thought!
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