Zimbabwe Declares a New Official Holiday for the Country to Protest against US Sanctions

Zimbabwe authorities have announced a new official holiday for the country to protest against US sanctions, the Associated Press reported.

The so-called Day Against Sanctions will be celebrated on October 25, the company announced yesterday. Information Minister Amon Murwira. He described the decision as a chance "to further emphasize the importance of this day for Zimbabwe's economic emancipation and prosperity."

Tens of thousands of people are expected to be taken by bus to the capital Harare, where they will join in a procession, watch a football match between the two biggest football clubs in Zimbabwe and attend a concert that will last all night, BTA reports.

For years dozens of Zimbabweans, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, have been subjected to US sanctions for alleged human rights abuses amid troubled elections and confiscation of white land, according to the Associated Press.

The US says the sanctions do not target the entire Zimbabwean government and do not affect business relations between the two countries. Washington also said the United States is the largest source of humanitarian aid for the African country, whose 300 percent inflation is the second highest in the world after Venezuela.