The United States has implemented sanctions against Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa due to allegations of corruption and human rights violations.

The sanctions also apply to other high-ranking officials in Zimbabwe, freezing their assets in the United States and prohibiting their unofficial travel to the country.

These new sanctions replace a broader program that was instituted two decades ago.

According to a statement from the White House, "We continue to observe significant violations of political, economic, and human rights. The targeting of civil society and severe restrictions on political activities have suppressed basic freedoms, while government leaders and other key figures have misappropriated public resources for personal gain."

The statement further added, "These illicit activities contribute to a global network of corruption, smuggling, and money laundering that harm communities in Zimbabwe, southern Africa, and beyond."

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted "numerous instances of abductions, physical violence, and unlawful killings" in Zimbabwe, causing people to "live in fear."

The White House affirmed its commitment to "redirecting and intensifying efforts to hold accountable the individuals and organizations responsible for such exploitation."

As well as Mr Mnangagwa, the US also sanctioned 10 other people and three businesses.

Those on the list include First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, and Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri.

Various other senior security officials, including members of Zimbabwe's national police and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), are also targeted - as are businesspeople found to have facilitated state corruption.

They include presidential advisor Kudakwashe Tagwirei, his wife, and two of their businesses.

All other people who were previously sanctioned by the US and are not on the new list have had their restrictions lifted.

A spokesman for the Zimbabwean government, Nick Mnangagwa, described the lifting of the old sanctions program as a "great vindication of President Mnangagwa's Foreign Policy" and called the new tariffs "illegal".

Farai Muroiwa Marapira, a spokesman for Mr Mnangagwa's ruling Zanu PF party said the president's "policy of being a friend to all and an enemy to none and having our doors open to all has yielded bittersweet results".

"If the president, the first lady, and senior officials remain sanctioned then Zimbabwe remains sanctioned and burdened by this illegality," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The US first imposed economic and travel sanctions on Zimbabwe in the early 1990s - targeting then-president Robert Mugabe and dozens of other high-ranking government officials, whom Washington accused of undermining democracy in the country.

Various countries including the UK and European Union members have also placed sanctions on Zimbabwe.

President Mnangagwa, who was sworn in for a second term as the country's last year, has in the past blamed the economic tariffs for crippling development in the country.

Noted