Zimbabwe at a crossroads

Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. The weight of a stolen election,

unprecedented corruption and the looting of public assets sits heavy
on the shoulders of Zimbabweans who want and deserve better.
The environment in the world right now is toxic. The wars in Ukraine
and the Middle East have pushed Zimbabwe to the bottom of the
world’s attention calendar. This has allowed the vampire state here to
carry out brazen election fraud. Not satisfied, the regime is now
engaged in a malicious push to weaken our struggle, the progressive
movement, through the illegal recall of elected public representatives.
It is therefore shocking to hear, and read, a daily stream of abusive,
malicious and defamatory claims that Professor Welshman Ncube and
I, are colluding with the regime and its proxies to append a struggle
that have occupied and consumed all our adult lives.
I do not speak for Prof Ncube, an honest and decent comrade who
buried his dear mother on Friday, but as someone who has been in this
struggle for as long as I have, one who has endured Zanu PF’s jails
and physical attacks by the same, it is heartbreaking, if not tragic, that
many Cdes that have been with us on this journey are now given false
labels and badges, Zanu PF wish they had coined first.
I don’t believe in recalls. I have never been part of recalls. I will never
be part of recalls.
In my life, I have been recalled twice in 2015 and in 2021 through the
pernicious use of section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. I
know the pain of a recall. My family knows the pain of a recall. The
people of Harare East know the pain a recall. With other MPs, such as
Temba Mliswa, we unsuccessfully fought for the removal and repeal
of section 129(1)(k).
Like most Zimbabweans, I only get to read about the patently illegal
recalls by Mr. Tshabangu in the newspapers.
Given what I and my family have given to this struggle, it saddens me
that I have to state publicly that I will never be part of a project to
weaken the democratic struggle in Zimbabwe. I have been imprisoned
and tortured for the change we all seek, and I have stood firm. I have
never worked for Zanu PF, and I will die before I lend my hand to the
illegitimate Zanu PF regime.
I had hoped to be a Member of Parliament. I have my reservations
about the process that prevented this happening. I have my challenges
and reservations about our identity, structural, strategic and procedural
polity.
I am a democrat who believes in constitutionalism, the rule of law,
transparency, openness and collective leadership.
I can never compromise on these core values.
However, no dispute nor differences is ever sufficient to place one at
the service of Zanu PF.
I have a daily job at my law practice and that’s where I have retreated
to fight for Zimbabweans in that sphere of my influence. Additionally,
I have progressive international engagements that require my full
attention.
Fellow Zimbabweans, all this chatter and actions by the illegitimate
regime and its proxies are an engineered distraction from the main
prize: to free ourselves from this rapacious dictatorship. It has
been a long and tortuous road; and victory is closer than the distance
back to where we started.

Tendai Biti
11 November 2023