By Lewis Machipisa in Zimbabwe

EU sanctions may mean sleepless nights for President Robert Mugabe and the ruling elite - but for most residents of Harare the move is long overdue.

''By imposing sanctions on this country, they show that some people outside also recognise that we are in a very bad situation and if this is not curbed then we are going to have continual collapse of this country,'' said Charles Mhlanga, who supports the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

His colleague Shakespeare Sibanda agreed.

''In this country there is no rule of law and Mugabe must be sanctioned," he said.

Sibanda believes Mugabe 'must be sanctioned'

But sidewalk vendor Bornwell Mbwewe was more cautious in his response.

''My fear is that if the ruling party wins the elections then the sanctions may be extended to cover the whole country," he said.

"If that happens, it will affect us the poor people and not the ministers because they have money and can still live well.

"But president Mugabe cannot blame anyone for the sanctions. His government has brought the sanctions upon themselves by treating people like prisoners with no rights. Mugabe should take the blame.''

'Mismanagement'

Across Harare, an opposition stronghold, the reaction to the targeted sanctions was overwhelmingly positive.

Let it be known throughout the whole world that Zimbabwe and its leader will become another Saddam Hussein who has had country hit by sanctions for a long time, but they have failed to destroy him

War veterans' leader

''I support the sanctions because Mugabe and his close allies are mismanaging our resources while educated Zimbabweans can't get jobs," one middle-aged man said.

"I have 'A' levels but I cannot get a job while the ministers families live abroad. They too should be made to suffer. Maybe they will realise that they are not fit to rule this country."

Another said he supported the sanctions ''simply because they are going to affect individuals and not affect us all. I support them just because it's the only way to fix Mugabe.''

But the Zimbabwe government has dismissed the sanctions as predictable and vowed not to be shaken by them.

''We will never allow in our country a situation where our sovereignty rights are hijacked under the guise of election observation," Professor Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe's information minister, told the state-run daily, The Herald.

"We are happy that the world is larger than Europe and that we in Africa would like to be judged by Africans who share the same values with us."

The sanctions were also brushed off by Zimbabwe war veterans leader Joseph Chinotimba. ''The British know very well that we can survive without their help. We have survived sanctions before and we were already under sanctions anyway so the sanctions don't even worry us,'' Mr Chinotimba said.

What we need is a good life and better education, and if sanctions against Mugabe can bring that, we support them.

Harare resident

''Let it be known throughout the whole world that Zimbabwe and its leader will become another Saddam Hussein who has had country hit by sanctions for a long time, but they have failed to destroy him. We have our African friends and they will help us. The British are liars bent on wanting to re-colonise us. But we are saying as war veterans, we will not be intimidated."

He said the sanctions actually strengthened the veterans' determination to take more land.

''It's only that we are a democratic people otherwise we would have cancelled the elections because of the sanctions by Britain. But we are unlike them so we will defeat their puppet Morgan Tsvangirai, who is a sell-out,'' he added.

Overdue

But Phainos Jasi from the sprawling Mabvuku township felt the sanctions should have been imposed ''a long time ago''.

''I accept that sanctions have a negative impact on a country," he said. "But if we have a negative impact in order to produce positive results, I think it's better than having negative effects uncurtailed.

''By imposing sanctions we are looking beyond the present into the future. As soon as sanctions are seen to be having results, they should be discontinued."

A colleague of his concurred.

''I am supporting the sanctions because most of the ministers' children are studying abroad while ours are suffering in the rural areas and our education system has deteriorated," he said.

"What we need is a good life and better education, and if sanctions against Mugabe can bring that, we support them.''