Tendai Biti
Encyclopedia
Tendai Laxton Biti is a Zimbabwe
an politician. He is the Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC-Tsvangirai) political party and a member of Parliament
for Harare East
; currently he is the Minister of Finance of Zimbabwe.
, Harare
. From 1980 to 1985 he attended Goromonzi High School, where he was appointed deputy head boy
in 1985. He enrolled in the University of Zimbabwe
law school as a freshman in 1986. In 1988 and 1989, as Secretary General of the Student Union, Biti led student protests against government censorship in academia. After school, he joined the Law firm Honey and Blackenberg, where he became the youngest partner by the age of 26.
constituency in 2000. During the Fifth Parliament he served as a member of the Parliament Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water Development, Rural Resources and Resettlement and that on Defence and Home Affairs. In March 2005 he retained the constituency. He serves in the Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development and is currently the MDC's Secretary General. In his legal career Biti has handled labour and human rights litigation representing large trade unions such as the Post and Telecommunications Trade Union.
He was arrested in 2007 with many others, including MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
, after a prayer rally in the Harare township of Highfield
.
On June 16, 2007, Biti and Welshman Ncube
met with Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
and Labor Minister Nicholas Goche
, in Pretoria
, South Africa
. South African President Thabo Mbeki
, appointed by the Southern African Development Community
, presided over the negotiations which sought to end economic sanctions
on Zimbabwe.
. According to official results, he received 8,377 votes against 2,587 for the ZANU-PF candidate. In the period following the election, he stayed outside of Zimbabwe (mainly in South Africa), along with Tsvangirai, amidst a post-electoral situation that the MDC alleges is marked by serious violence against MDC supporters.
, Biti said that he had already learned that he would be arrested, but maintained that his only crime was "fighting for democracy" and said that it was necessary for him to return to participate in the MDC's struggle. Following Biti's arrest, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said that he would be charged with treason, based on an MDC document about changing the government. This document, which was called "The Transition Strategy" and was said to have been written by Biti on March 25, included purported plans to rig the election in favor of the MDC. Bvudzijena said that Biti would additionally be charged with making false statements "prejudicial to the state" due to his announcement of election results prior to their release by the Electoral Commission. United States Ambassador James McGee
expressed deep concern on behalf of the US government, saying that the document in question was an unobjectionable statement of the MDC's plans and goals; according to McGee, another, more extreme version of the document existed, but it was forged. Biti's lawyer also claimed that the material in question was forged.
On June 13, Biti's lawyers said that they had not been allowed to meet with him, and they filed an urgent application with the High Court on the same day. The MDC said that it was "deeply worried" about Biti's welfare and that it had sent a team to police stations across Harare, hoping to determine where he was being held. He appeared in court on June 14.
Biti's home was searched by the police on June 16, although the police did not take anything out of the home. His lawyer, Lewis Uriri, said that Biti had been interrogated for a full 24 hours after his arrest; Uriri also said that he would seek an order from the High Court to release Biti on the grounds that he had been held without charge for more than the allowed 48-hour period.
Biti again appeared in court on June 18; however, this hearing was postponed to the next day because the power failed, meaning that the hearing could not be recorded. He was charged on June 19. He faced four charges: "treason, communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the State, insulting President Mugabe and causing disaffection among the defence forces".. Prosecutors argued against granting bail to Biti, noting that the charges against him were so serious that he could be executed. The defense submitted an application to have the charges thrown out, but on June 20 magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe dismissed this application, saying that he believed there was "reasonable suspicion that the accused committed the said offence". Biti's next court appearance was set for July 7, and Guvamombe ordered that he remain in custody until then.
On June 26, Biti was granted bail at one trillion Zimbabwean dollar
s; he was also required to surrender his home's title deeds and to report to the police on a weekly basis. Biti's lawyers later filed a petition asking for the return of his passport so that he could attend talks between the parties in South Africa, and as a result his passport was returned to him on July 9, enabling him to go. He led the MDC-Tsvangirai delegation to the talks, which began in Pretoria
on July 10, although according to Tsvangirai the purpose of this was only to set the MDC-Tsvangirai's conditions for participating in the talks, not to actually participate in them.
Uriri applied for the removal of Biti's remand
on the grounds that a trial date should have been set and the police investigation should have been completed. On August 27, 2008, Chioniso Mutongi, a magistrate in Harare, rejected this request, saying that Biti had not been on remand long enough for its removal to be appropriate.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
an politician. He is the Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change
Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai
The Movement for Democratic Change Zimbabwe is a political party and the largest party in the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe. It is the main formation formed from the split of the original Movement for Democratic Change in 2005.-Foundation:...
(MDC-Tsvangirai) political party and a member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Harare East
Harare East
Harare East is a constituency of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe, located in Harare. It has been represented since 2000 by Tendai Biti, the Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change, and he retained this constituency in the March 2008 election....
; currently he is the Minister of Finance of Zimbabwe.
Early life
Biti was born in DzivarasekwaDzivarasekwa
Dzivarasekwa is a predominantly working-class suburb of western Harare, Zimbabwe. It is represented as the constituency of Dzivarasekwa....
, Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
. From 1980 to 1985 he attended Goromonzi High School, where he was appointed deputy head boy
Head boy
Head Boy and Head Girl are terms commonly used in the British education system, and in private schools throughout the Commonwealth.-United Kingdom:...
in 1985. He enrolled in the University of Zimbabwe
University of Zimbabwe
The University of Zimbabwe in Harare, is the oldest and largest university in Zimbabwe. It was founded through a special relationship with the University of London and it opened its doors to its first students in 1952. The university has ten faculties offering a wide variety of degree programmes...
law school as a freshman in 1986. In 1988 and 1989, as Secretary General of the Student Union, Biti led student protests against government censorship in academia. After school, he joined the Law firm Honey and Blackenberg, where he became the youngest partner by the age of 26.
Political career
In 1999 he helped found the MDC. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Harare EastHarare East
Harare East is a constituency of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe, located in Harare. It has been represented since 2000 by Tendai Biti, the Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change, and he retained this constituency in the March 2008 election....
constituency in 2000. During the Fifth Parliament he served as a member of the Parliament Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water Development, Rural Resources and Resettlement and that on Defence and Home Affairs. In March 2005 he retained the constituency. He serves in the Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development and is currently the MDC's Secretary General. In his legal career Biti has handled labour and human rights litigation representing large trade unions such as the Post and Telecommunications Trade Union.
He was arrested in 2007 with many others, including MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai and a key figure in the opposition to President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 February 2009...
, after a prayer rally in the Harare township of Highfield
Highfield, Harare
Highfield is a high density suburb in Harare, Zimbabwe. It is one of the oldest townships in Zimbabwe.- Geography :Highfield is a high density suburb to the south west of Harare the capital of Zimbabwe. Popularly known as Fio in local slang...
.
On June 16, 2007, Biti and Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube is a Zimbabwean politician. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change – Mutambara, and since February 2009 has been the Minister of Industry and Commerce. He was elected as a member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Bulawayo North East in the 2000 election and...
met with Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
Patrick Chinamasa
Patrick Antony Chinamasa is a Zimbabwean politician, currently serving as the Minister of Justice.-Career:A leading member of the ruling ZANU-PF party, Chinamasa became first deputy Agriculture Minister, and then Attorney General of Zimbabwe; he also holds the role of Leader of the Zimbabwean...
and Labor Minister Nicholas Goche
Nicholas Goche
Nicholas Tasunungurwa Goche is a Zimbabwean politician, currently serving as Minister of Transport. Previously he was Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare....
, in Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. South African President Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
, appointed by the Southern African Development Community
Southern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states...
, presided over the negotiations which sought to end economic sanctions
Economic sanctions
Economic sanctions are domestic penalties applied by one country on another for a variety of reasons. Economic sanctions include, but are not limited to, tariffs, trade barriers, import duties, and import or export quotas...
on Zimbabwe.
2008 elections
Biti was re-elected to the House of Assembly from Harare East in the March 2008 parliamentary electionZimbabwean parliamentary election, 2008
A parliamentary election was held in Zimbabwe on March 29, 2008 to elect members to both the House of Assembly and the Senate of the Zimbabwean parliament...
. According to official results, he received 8,377 votes against 2,587 for the ZANU-PF candidate. In the period following the election, he stayed outside of Zimbabwe (mainly in South Africa), along with Tsvangirai, amidst a post-electoral situation that the MDC alleges is marked by serious violence against MDC supporters.
Arrest
Biti returned to Zimbabwe on June 12, 2008 and was immediately arrested at the airport in Harare. Before his departure from JohannesburgJohannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, Biti said that he had already learned that he would be arrested, but maintained that his only crime was "fighting for democracy" and said that it was necessary for him to return to participate in the MDC's struggle. Following Biti's arrest, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said that he would be charged with treason, based on an MDC document about changing the government. This document, which was called "The Transition Strategy" and was said to have been written by Biti on March 25, included purported plans to rig the election in favor of the MDC. Bvudzijena said that Biti would additionally be charged with making false statements "prejudicial to the state" due to his announcement of election results prior to their release by the Electoral Commission. United States Ambassador James McGee
James D. McGee
James David McGee is an American diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe. He is the former U.S. ambassador to Swaziland, Madagascar and the Comoros.-Early life:...
expressed deep concern on behalf of the US government, saying that the document in question was an unobjectionable statement of the MDC's plans and goals; according to McGee, another, more extreme version of the document existed, but it was forged. Biti's lawyer also claimed that the material in question was forged.
On June 13, Biti's lawyers said that they had not been allowed to meet with him, and they filed an urgent application with the High Court on the same day. The MDC said that it was "deeply worried" about Biti's welfare and that it had sent a team to police stations across Harare, hoping to determine where he was being held. He appeared in court on June 14.
Biti's home was searched by the police on June 16, although the police did not take anything out of the home. His lawyer, Lewis Uriri, said that Biti had been interrogated for a full 24 hours after his arrest; Uriri also said that he would seek an order from the High Court to release Biti on the grounds that he had been held without charge for more than the allowed 48-hour period.
Biti again appeared in court on June 18; however, this hearing was postponed to the next day because the power failed, meaning that the hearing could not be recorded. He was charged on June 19. He faced four charges: "treason, communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the State, insulting President Mugabe and causing disaffection among the defence forces".. Prosecutors argued against granting bail to Biti, noting that the charges against him were so serious that he could be executed. The defense submitted an application to have the charges thrown out, but on June 20 magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe dismissed this application, saying that he believed there was "reasonable suspicion that the accused committed the said offence". Biti's next court appearance was set for July 7, and Guvamombe ordered that he remain in custody until then.
On June 26, Biti was granted bail at one trillion Zimbabwean dollar
Zimbabwean dollar
The Zimbabwean dollar was the official currency of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 12 April 2009....
s; he was also required to surrender his home's title deeds and to report to the police on a weekly basis. Biti's lawyers later filed a petition asking for the return of his passport so that he could attend talks between the parties in South Africa, and as a result his passport was returned to him on July 9, enabling him to go. He led the MDC-Tsvangirai delegation to the talks, which began in Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
on July 10, although according to Tsvangirai the purpose of this was only to set the MDC-Tsvangirai's conditions for participating in the talks, not to actually participate in them.
Uriri applied for the removal of Biti's remand
Detention of suspects
The detention of suspects is the process of keeping a person who has been arrested in a police-cell, remand prison or other detention centre before trial or sentencing. One criticism of pretrial detention is that eventual acquittal can be a somewhat hollow victory, in that there is no way to...
on the grounds that a trial date should have been set and the police investigation should have been completed. On August 27, 2008, Chioniso Mutongi, a magistrate in Harare, rejected this request, saying that Biti had not been on remand long enough for its removal to be appropriate.
Appointment to Government of National Unity
On 10 February 2009, MDC leader and Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai announced the appointment of Biti as Finance Minister in the Government of National Unity. Though he has no known history in financial and economic matters, analysts suggest that Tsavingarai really had no other option considering Biti's position in the MDC. In addition, he is known to drive a hard bargain and could be the best person to deal with the Zanu-PF controlled public service. He was sworn in alongside other Ministers on February 13, 2009 in Harare.External links
- The Zimbabwean Leadership Profiles
- "Zimbabwe MDC's economic blueprint" 3 February 2004, BBC News
- "Opposition anger at Zimbabwe deal" 2 March 2002, BBC News
- "Tsvangirai leaves Harare hospital" 16 March 2007, BBC News
- to expect in the cabinet" September 15, 2008 , Zimbabwe Metro
- Interview with Tendai Biti on 30 April 2009 Radio France Internationale