via Zim may face rebellion: Biti – DailyNews Live by Thelma Chikwanha 8 APRIL 2014
Zimbabwe may face a rebellion because of lack of vision and leadership, an opposition leader has warned.
MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti warned in a wide-ranging interview with the Daily News last week that failure by ruling leaders to act on the issues that are affecting the 14 million citizens reeling from an ill-performing economy and failure by opposition to exert any form of influence because of its own internal challenges, could give rise to rebellion, including even by the military.
“Now the effect of our fragile economy on the backdrop of a country where democracy itself is in intensive care, where opposition itself has its own challenges, where the ruling party itself is tearing each other to pieces, is that we face the day of real invasion of parties, a real possibility of a military coup d’état,” Biti said.
“But the sum totality of this is lack of leadership, lack of vision and lack of love.”
The former finance minister said the economy was in a deep trench of stagnation and deflation, an unfortunate situation which he claimed could last for 30 years as there was absolutely no economic activity on the ground.
He said that although many countries such as Argentina had gone through similar episodes in their history, none of them were a fragile state as is the case in Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe is a fragile state, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is very low, poverty levels are high and its per capita income is less than $300,” Biti said.
He said Zimbabwe was going to die from this comatose state because there was no economic activity.
Biti said the economy could only be revived through credit lines because it was not capable of generating financial resources required, adding the goodwill of others would also come in handy and give the economy a jump start needed to revive industry.
Biti said there was need to ensure transparency in all sectors to ensure that every cent generated was remitted into the country’s coffers.
To achieve the ideal of getting the country out of the economic malaise, there was need to have dedicated people working together for the common good.
“To get out of this comatose requires urgent surgery by expert surgeons, by dedicated surgeons, by super physicians in the form of your government. But that’s the problem if the chief physician is 90 years and the actual technical expert is a farmer from Headlands, so these things are beyond them from what is required,” Biti added.
“We are going to require post operation maintenance and care. It is beyond these parties that are afflicted by asinine factual factional fanaticism that is unprecedented.
“We see deputy ministers attacking ministers and Parliament has become a civil war for two main factions and opposition with its own problems is now an innocent bystander in boxing matches taking place in the two main factions fighting for dear life.”
COMMENTS
I am surprised that Mr Biti admits their problems within his party, but they are not addressing the issues in good time to take advantage of the confusion within the ruling party.What are you waiting for you aimless leaders?
The country is in this terrible economic state because of these useless politicians from both parties,who think about themselves and not about the masses.The GNU brought more confusion and looting because the two parties worked in disagreement to destroy the welfare of the masses.Mr Biti you are not telling us anything new because you are part and parcel to the current problems we have.
A well organised opposition party would easily excel under these economic problems because I have not come across any family which is happy these days except the saboteurs of our dear economy.GET YOURSELVES ORGANISED BEFORE ITS TOO LATE YOU BIG USELESS TALKERS.
Mr mixed race I hope the opposition parties are reading your blog and taking careful note! Do they read this site I wonder? Take a look at a few of the other headlines today: Deflationary pressure to persist: Zim fails to meet revenue targets: Zim mineral output slumps: ZSE continues flat as foreigners sell off. Every day is like this together with the on going plunder and massive corruption. And so why aren’t the opposition parties capitalising? “For they do not know right, says the lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.” Amos 3:10. “For behold the lord gives a command, He will break the great house into bits and the little house into pieces…yet you have turned justice into gall and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.” This economy will be a mighty judgment against the house of ZPF unless they repent. No repentance! no restoration!
Tendai Biti confirms himself as the author of the confusion in the opposition MDC T. He deserves the title of anarchist par excellence. Why did he author so many conflicting strategies at the same time. First, it was the challenging zanupf theft in the courts and now it is about the army doing a coup. Where is your organised constituency in all this? Why are u demobilizing your own constituency of democratic forces them by your scatter brain. The strategies Tendai Biti is calling for will not benefit anyone under an authoritarian system. They only serve to prolong the suffering of the people and lead to an indeterminate result.
This is the time to call upon the democratic movement to rise and take charge in manner that the outcome is within its control and influence.
Zimbabwe is in terrible shape because of the worthless leadership of Mr. Robert Mugabe and his corrupt Zanu-PF government. Zimbabwe is bankrupt, not in the sense that it lacks a great labor force or abundant natural resources, but in the sense that Mr. Mugabe lacks any realistic vision for his people. He is a figure from the distant past. He has looted his country of its wealth. Now, the people of Zimbabwe must take back the wealth and remove Mr. Mugabe and Zanu-PF from power. It will be a difficult task.
I’M NOT A POLITICIAN ASI BITI AND MANGOMA GENERATED SOME OF THESE PROBLEMS.TO GET OUT OF THIS MESS IT’S NOT EASY NOW, U GAVE YOUR ENEMY A VERY STRONG PLATFORM.
NOONE IS PERFECT LET’S MOVE ON AND DEAL WITH BIGGER ISSUES.
WE WILL GET THERE!
Don’t use CAPITALS, it’s rude!
Hey Parangeta, you just complain at us all who post here! You may need some ANGER MANAGEMENT!!GRRRR!!
Bad Wishes for One’s Country: bete muBiti Rakorwa nezviyo.
Hey Mr $217, there will be no rebellon except that which is in your sellout party. Get over July 2013 and start preparing for 2018 with good wishes for the country and our ZPF govt. Stop practicing speaking like a prophet of doom!
That is a statement. What shd be done? We r tired of such statements. We now want solutions. If u r not as brave as Tswangirai then keep quiet
Zimbabwe has not got a clue how to organise or how to budget.no good educating people to get a degree if their brain stops working when they get a piece of paper and they use their education to con and steal from the uneducated.
THESE OLD COWS! YOU MUST BE JOKPNG!
Lets get serious now. We have had enough of this useless government. No plan whatsoever. Time to exit Zanu .Time to vacate the premises and go and sit at the Ambassador Hotel and talk about you destroyed Zimbabwe. Pasi ne Zanu.PASI
TALK TALK TALK BY BITI AND EVERYONE ELSE.DO SOMETHING YOU IDIOTS.IF NOTHING IS DONE SOON NONE OF YOU WILL HOLD POWER. IT WILL BE POWER TO THE PEOPLE. AND THE PEOPLE WILL DICTATE WHO RULES. BEWARE IT WILL HAPPEN SOON.
There will be no rebellion. Mr Biti as always bombastic.
Biti is day dreaming about a rebellion.
Our recovery will not take 30 years as he wishes,we will get it right soon
I get a sense that this boy is not 100% back in the fold with Morgan,hence the seeming 3rd party analysis of politics in Zim.
Good morning Murimi, please tell me how you think we are going to get it right soon and who is we?
@NBS. Good morning to u too.
We is us,you and me,the Zimbos,across the racial divide.
How,is when you guys stop critisicing for the sake of it,and we put our minds together.And u call off the sanctions and work with the elected leadership.
Sounds familiar?,well thats the truth!
Murimi some of what you say is good. like that. but I cannot go with the elected leadership. And I am happy we can be open enough to speak to one another. I have tried talking to ZPF for 13 years. really tried. One day I hope to tell you the whole story. They just do not want to work with the whole nation. And I do not know how old you are but I was around during UDI and saw what real sanctions were. No Murimi, we Zimbo’s need to own up to our sin, our wrongs, our faults and stop blaming everything and everyone except ourselves. ZPF as the present leaders, elected or not, need to lead the way by example. God always holds the leadership accountable first. leaders are supposed to be servants. that is what Minister means. To serve!
@Mirimi. Forget about sanctions. We have more than 1 billion people on the African continent who want goods and services (Masiiwa is doing it). ZIMASSET needs $30 billion to work (theoretically). Zisco has a potential to produce products worth $1 billion per year. We have been joking on Zisco for past 20 years. As a single entity it could have financed more than a quarter of ZIMASSET. By the way if it was running then we would not need ZIMASSET as a project but ZIMASSET would be the way to do business. Zimalloys, NRZ, Zimcast, Zimphos, Lancashire Steel, Dunlop, Cone Textiles, Merlin, Bata, Anchor yeast, Zimglass, Dairiboard,Blue Ribbon endless list of companies that made Rhodesia tick. In South Africa Sasol liqiufies coal into more than 100 commercially viable products. It supplies 80% of Gauteng liquid fuels. Gauteng GDP for 2012 was R811 billion (approx $ 80 billion) that is 8 times that of Zimbabwe. The whole of Gauteng is held together by this 1 giant of a company. Mines generally do not supply downstream industries (gold and platinum is mostly exported in its raw form). We criticise mostly because we know. Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Botswana etc have populations of less than 10 million people has very little resources but compare their citizens lives and ours. Sable chemicals was installed (it was a 2nd hand plant) when there was excess electricity from Kariba at the time with a plan to stop by 1985 due to projected demand for electricity when coal gasification would have started. But kupa mapenzi matomu.
What sanctions, you mean the sanctions
on M’Garbage’s Saville Row suites and
dis-Grace’s Gucci handbags??????
Fool!
murimi back from the herald???????????
There will never be a rebellion. Zimbabweans are cowards
Agree 100%, Jan! A “rebellion” at a “growth point” at which point free mealie meal is distributed and all will think life is whooppee dooo again and trundle of home, having already forgotten what they were shouting about… rebellion Zim style!
That’s right. ZPF have been so instrumental in shattering the peoples, who they claim to have liberated, spirit that the average Zimbabwean now has a heartbreakingly low expectation. With liberators like that who needs enemies? You see when you control food you control people. My beloved Zimbabweans learn to stand up and say zvakwana! Zvakwana. No longer allow a politician to strip you of who are in the Lord. Say no to fear. Say no to evil. Say no to intimidation. Say no to oppression. “Set a guard over our mouths, oh Lord, keep a watch over the door to my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing. To practice wicked works with men who work iniquity. And do not let me eat of their delicacies.” Psalm 140:3/4
Agreed. Zimbabweans will never, ever revolt. It simply won’t happen.
Biti is Secretery General of the opposition and is blaming the same opposition yet he is in a position to influence events in the opposition-I shudder
Biti you are in the top 6 of the mdc, so if you think of leadership renewal then count yourself in because you failed as well not only Morgan. What strategy are you going to bring when you failed when you were powerful finance minister?
Sub-contract the country back to the British. They knew how to run the country.
@NBS- They cannot hide from us because they will meet me on the other websites under different names for technological safety if they think they can select items to read.Give us a bit of freedom we will expose these useless leaders for what they stand for in society.
No they cannot hide. good for you. we are together
I might not agree with the way Biti sees it but I will say that history dictates that changes can come suddenly. This is normally when a country is not economically stable or politically stable. Little things have sparked off rebellions such as a single person showing displeasure at something and is shot down by a trigger happy Policeman and all of a sudden all hell breaks loose. Since all the Soldiers in the army don’t each others families, a loved one of one of these could be assaulted or shot by a colleague he does not know then he goes wild and triggers on knock on effects in other branches of the security forces. I would have to agree with some of the contributions here that in my opinion a rebellion by the populace is unlikely because people, although they are still suffering have found alternative ways to just about survive. That does not mean Politicians will not be held to account. The only thing with no end is God himself. It is only a matter of time.
True. God is utterly faithful.
we are in the soup!!but all complain about the politicians, leaders, but where are we the people demanding simple rights at every level in a host of ways, boycotts petitions, sit downs….support those civic institutions that are still standing, expose corruption…
@munzwa I would hasten to say the people are weary. Look back over the years how they tried. Strikes, stay aways. Nothing works against a Dictatorship because they don’t care if the economy falls or not. Just this morming a Coservative member of the British Government had to resign because she falsified her expenses calim.Mrs Miller the culture secretary was cleared of funding a home for he parents but was told to repay her expenses she claimed. This did not even get to the public although they read about it. Her own colegues in her party called for her head. Here we have scandals going on at the moment and no one has been brought to book. If they can do what they do to WOZA you can imagine what they will do to the people.
And ZPF talk about liberation and freedom????? And democracy???? They do not know the meaning of these words.
ROBERT MUGABE said – We pride ourselves as being top, really, on the African ladder… We feel that we have actually been advancing rather than going backwards.
Pride before a fall!!
Zimbabweans, like Biti, are cowards; freedom comes through blood, sweat and death, who will rebel?
@Doctor do little- you are right because a simple road block at Mzilikazi Raiway Fly over bridge made a mistake by forcefully using the spikes cradle to stop an ET which nearly killed people.The public went mad and are still mad about it which has spoiled relations between the police and the general public to an extent that a policeman in an ET alone gets worried about his safety.The police have to change their corrupt tendencies to be accepted and live comfortably with the masses.
The public is very angry about these looters who seem to be protected by the system which concentrates on what the public call trivial issues like a damaged vehicle third number plate.
@ small axe,
It is alright for you to talk of good governance in the UK, but take your mind to 4 years ago, when the members of parliament in England were making false claims, and abusing their portfolios, just like here,who was arrested and who resigned?… only an insignificant few. Corruption is endemic everywhere, even in the so called ‘democracies’ Change will come soon, not only to Zimbabwe but to the entire world governing systems. They all are made out of the same cloth. They lie, cheat and steal just like here. I hope the Almighty will give us the break we are looking for in this world. He knows the time, day and hour for that change. We are waiting for it. Talking about democracy under the current world leadership is wasting our good time here on earth.
@JAY C If you have been following that development you will know that all that were caught out in this scandal were told to come clean and repay the monies that they claimed on town houses. A few were jailed because of the level of blameworthiness. No one benefited. Have any of our guys been ordered to return the money they stole. NO. Are some of them wholly to blame? No . Are the Ministries involved to blame A BIG YES. The ill-gotten gains should be returned to the state coffers like what the British did.
Small Axe it is difficult to ask someone to return something when you have also taken. That is the problem with being a thief is that you cannot call someone else a thief if you also put your hand in the jar.
Zimbabwe no longer needs armchair politics, there is need for practical solutions. Kick these rapacious hoodlums out using whatever means available…elections have failed, SADC and AU have failed, so what else?Will we moan to the grave or take action?
I don’t know Bro..here we just debate.
Stop voting on tribal lines, then you will create a stable and successful Zimbabwe. This is not rocket science – its plain simple logic!!
the mdc must stop exclaiming obout the trajectory to despairity in Zimbabwe.they were manoeuvred,manipulated and routed on the same bad and blanket by the cunning zanu,with their ever loosing candidate mr T kept afloat and patted by Mugabe’s hand to zanu’s advantage.the mdc is now a liability to the masses’s empathy and called for belief that change might not be possible in Zimbabwe.
Debate till you die..
Can’t do nothing much on the Internet but maybe you can lead us..
We also wait to be lead..tight. Tongopedzera shungu pa internet. “Asi tichavabata chete”.. let me make myself happy, as await for the next meal. Hope makes you full, though hungry.
APO murimi?????? which one?
It is not hard to remove the leadership but we all need to be determined and to craft one thing not zvana biti zvekuti nhasi pano mangwana apo nana Gono biti akumborumawo. First we need to speak with one voice. We need to bring the looters to book and get the wealth back. We also need to send them to prison to pay for their sins and we need to continue to rule the country without resorting to outside assistance. We have to know what the arguments are about. We do not want to revert 100 % we all knew that this resource war against each other was coming so lets have it in civilized manner to benefit rather than to destroy. Arrest, Try, jail, and recover. Those are the four seemingly easy steps. We can achieve them with Mugabe but kana asigande we can do it on our own. Lets keep the pressure and keep outing these thugs. Kunyange ivo vakuru vakuru takuzokuitai out if you are not responding to our needs. 1. Arrest; 2. Fair tral; 3. Jail the guilty and 4. demand restitution of the looted monies. Lets not get overexcited but keep our eye on the ball.
Talk 2m inibodyguard wabhobho 2 finnish everything kabila style