THE United Kingdom (UK) has removed former Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) boss Isaac Moyo, police Commissioner General Godwin Matanga and former army commander Anselem Sanyatwe from its sanctions list.

Minister of State for Midlands and former Minister of State Security, Owen Ncube and the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) have also been removed from the list.

Announced in a statement Tuesday, the four top officials and ZDI had been under sanctions for various human rights-related abuses.

Moyo headed the dreaded CIO from 2017 until his exit earlier this year, taking charge of operations that included intimidation, abduction and assault of opposition politicians, human rights activists and journalists.

Ncube has been accused of being the godfather of mining gangs in the Midlands. He was fingered as the main man behind violent attacks that claimed the life of an opposition supporter in Kwekwe, in the run-up to the 2018 elections.

"The UK announces the delisting of sanctions against individuals Owen Ncube, Isaac Moyo, Godwin Matanga, Anselem Sanyatwe, and the entity Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI)," reads a statement on the UK government's website.

"The revocations follow a similar move from the European Union in February 2025, when they delisted their last remaining entity (ZDI) whilst renewing their existing Zimbabwe sanctions framework. The US also removed a number of designations in March 2024."

ZDI was listed by the UK soon after late President Robert Mugabe chucked out the European Union (EU) observer mission ahead of the 2002 elections.

It stood accused of providing arms used in the abuse of ordinary Zimbabweans.

The recent round of removals will be taken as a triumph for President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has been on an overdrive courting the West.

Over recent years, the EU, UK and America have eased restrictions on Zimbabweans and entities that had been fingered in corruption and human rights abuses.