via Leaked Audio Recording exposes Tendai Biti’s many links | iHarare. 08 June 2014
Expelled MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti has revealed working with top Zanu PF officials, war veterans, nationalists and some unnamed rich and powerful nations in his bid to politically bury his ally-turned foe Morgan Tsvangirai.
The Daily News is in possession of a 58-minute-long audio recording, in which the former Finance minister, who is fronting the MDC Renewal Team, literally dangles a carrot to the MDC structures to back his project as he moves to form his own party.
In the stunning audio recorded in Dzivaresekwa in May during a meeting with his Renewal Project structures, Biti claims his pockets are deep enough to finance the project since he has the backing of foreigners.
In the recording, Biti says he is closely working in cahoots with some very senior officials in Zanu PF.
“Chechipiri vanamai munoziva kuti tirikuita mameetings anotyisa nevamwe vanhu vandisingagoni kutaura pano apa, pamwe murikunzwa muma newspapers kuti pane zvirikuitika (The second thing that I would like to tell you is that we are having meetings with people whose names I cannot mention here.”
“…some of the people fought during the liberation war when some of us were not even born, but today we are sitting together, saying are these the people we were frightened of.”)
Yesterday, Biti refused to comment on the matter saying, “party issues and those of properties will be discussed in due course.”
In the past Biti has denied colluding with Zanu PF to dislodge Tsvangirai and make sure he does not participate in the 2018 elections.
The combative politician has reportedly been working with Zanu PF and Western donors, who want Tsvangirai out for different reasons. Zanu PF do not want to take the risk of contesting Tsvangirai in the 2018 elections arguing that because of his popularity among the grassroots supporters, he might thrash them in the polls.
The donors claim to be fed up with Tsvangirai saying his love for women had damaged his reputation and having lost to Mugabe three times in the elections, they say he has nothing new to offer.
A dossier released to the Daily News in April also reveals in stunning detail how MDC rebels hatched a plan with some Zanu PF functionaries in 2012 to stymie Tsvangirai’s chances of winning elections.
Central to the strategy was financial sabotage, diversions of funds as well as political espionage.
Elton Mangoma, a key member of Biti’s Renewal Team, however, dismissed the dossier and wants to sue the Daily News for the exposure.
Biti’s recorded remarks, have however, further exposed the Renewal Team’s machinations as they reach out to Western donors and Zanu PF for support and legitimacy.
Revealing his project’s strategies, Biti said the International community had promised in 2012, that it would inject $4 billion into the Zimbabwean economy—on condition that Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who were in a coalition government, held free and fair elections.
He said he can still unlock the $4 billion and resuscitate the economy if his political project gains traction.
Biti told the meeting that the West was fully behind his splinter group.
He said the West is ready to channel resources through his party in order to sustain a caretaker government, which is inevitable due to the biting economic crisis. Ironically, Biti yesterday addressed a press conference where he called for the setting up of a caretaker government.
“Kune kwandakaendeswa kune imwe embassy ikoko takaita inonzi satellite video conference kuti munhu akagara kuNew York uyu akagara kunoku asi munoita kunge zvatakaita panapa, zvikanzi munenge muri right, mari iyaya ichiriko, saka isu tozobetserawo caretaker government kuti iwane mari vana vowana mabasa, because kumirira kuti tongai tiwone tichi suffer hazvina musoro. (I visited one of the embassies and had a video conference. They told me that the money is still there and we want to use it to help the caretaker government to create employment because to stand aside does not make sense.)
“We need to move this economy. Isusu tirikuti (we are saying) there should be a $4 billion dollar injection of money into this economy and mari yacho tinoiwana. (we will get the money).
Biti and Tsvangirai fell out after the party’s dismal loss to Zanu PF in last year’s general elections—and formerly parted ways in April this year.
Showing that there is no love lost between him and Tsvangirai, Biti said he is going to match Tsvangirai pound for pound by setting up parallel structures across the country.
“Way forward vanamai, zvishoma nezvishoma tirikuuumba chinhu chete. Mastructure aitwe pana chairman waGumbura (Tsvangirai) ngakuiswe chairman wedu handitika, kunasecretary waGumbura ngakuiswe wedu tiite macomplete structures, from branch, to ward to district to province,” Biti said. (We need to set up structures. Where Tsvangirai has a chairman, we will deploy ours and where he has a secretary, we must also have our own.)
He added that he met with some of the African ambassadors assigned to Zimbabwe and they warmed up to his project.
“Tasangana nevanhu veku Tanzania, Botswana, Ghana, DRC and South Africa vakati vakomana nevasikana maita basa magona maziva kuti rukuvhute rwenyu rwuri muno,” Biti said. (We met ambassadors from Tanzania, Botswana, DRC, Ghana and South Africa who all said we had all done well to form our own group.)
“Handisi kukunyeperai izvozvi titori pamberi we have met the ANC and we are done with them. They have told me kuti vanozondiendesa kuna number one mbune (South African President Jacob Zuma.) (I am telling the truth. We met the ANC and they promised to take us to their president ( Jacob Zuma).
“Ndichangotsvagawo chibhodhoro changu che whisky ndoti makorokoto president but nyaya yangu ndeiyi. Ma Zimbabweans tiri tega. (We will buy the president (Zuma) a bottle of whiskey and say please help us).
COMMENTS
Be rest assured Moyo is in this group.
Zuma needs a bottle of whiskey? How low can you go Tendai.
how true is this? anyone to verify?
Who doesn’t know that Moyo is working with Biti anyway. Unfortunately the plot has been exposed before it hatched!
No guys Biti said he has got the keys to unblock funds friends , now I know who their friends are,it is daily news happy which they want to sue, idid not understand when people when they said politics is a dirty game, how can one say Tsvangirai is at failure when you planed against him from 2012′,just an innocent questin
Laughable. Western intelligence always supports the wrong asreholes. 1980 mugarbage. 2008 tsvangira. And now ?? You all delayed your lost chances. Sadly mnangagwa is quietly truly well ensconced !!!!!!!
Promises, promises. So now supposedly, we have Mnangagwa promising Chinese money for ZimAsset if he is crowned after Mugabe, and now Biti promising Western money if he is crowned after Tsvangirai.
Your cue, Jerry Maguire!
If there is substance to this, why not upload the audio recording so we can hear for ourselves?
I have always admired Biti, but not as leader but a pillar who was smart enough to remain with Tsvangirai when Welshman Ncube miscalculated. Now he falls into the same trap? Physically though, he does not look well. My advice would be that he seeks early medical check ups, get on treatment, and reassess the way he can best serve his country. We need men of his calibre in politics, but in this instance he has proved short of strategic thinking. Let the best interests of Zimbabwe prevail, not those of individual glory.
Biti made a mistake in judgement similar to Welshman’s and many other great political heroes made from many political parties. You don’t break off from your main stream party because a few of your friends think you might make a good or better leader.
For Biti its a fiasco.
You hit the mail on the head Rumarai……where’s this so-called audio? Sounds like another ‘smear’ from those that fear Biti’s progress! Make the ‘audio’ public!!
What is he offering that is new or designed to serve the people he represents?
It’s not about him, it’s about all of them. MDC is not for one man.
Any one who believes this crude propaganda from the Daily News is plain stupid.
No proof about anything.Press delete.
There is nothing that annoys me more than people who love worshipping others.
Many Tswangirayi supporters are nort normal; just like those who support gukurahundi Mugabe.
They will hear no evil and see no evil, no matter how clear and well defined this is right in front of them.
What exactly is wrong with Black people? Education coubnts for nothing. You will continue defending the indefensible – why are you all like this?
Even if the whole world can see the colour is white, you will continue arguing it is black. I give up on the black race!
There is absolutely no need of fantasising and cooking up stories here. Tswangirayi is simply not good enough as a leader – PERIOD!
I think you are not being fair. There is more to this story than what meets the eye at a glance. In MDCT it’s a democratic party. There is a constitution that is followed to appoint leaders and it needs to be followed. People can’t just decide to say today we don’t want this leader let’s dismiss him.
We don’t want to have Biti running away with a handful of his faithfuls and and welshman straying with his disciples. Why will people fail to uphold their own processes and procedures to map their way. Tswangirai was and is not MDC. If MDC fails Tswangirai fails Biti fails Mangoma fails and all of us to the man on the street. Some foolish people say elections were rigid under Tswangirais eyes, and forget that they where all one body with Tswangirai. It’s like a parents whose child fail to do well in school then they start pointing fingers to say in my family we have doctors and many graduates so it’s your fault that the child failed coz you got nothing going on your side. So let’s stop finger pointing and fault finding. Let’s accept our mistakes and see a way to correct them and move forward stronger and with more determination to win the next elections.
WHAT A BAD STORY TO TELL (ANC SA)!BAD BOY BITI!
If its a lie let the agrieved sue and evrything else will cme in the open,Daily News is waiting for their response