Africa, August 07: Attempts by President Robert Mugabe’s old guard to derail Zimbabwe’s democratic progress are mere “sulks from a dying breed”, according to the Finance Minister, Tendai Biti.
Mr Biti, who is also the secretary-general of the former opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), last week became the most high-profile target of intimidation when he received a 9mm bullet and a death note at his home. In what the MDC describes as a strategy to wipe out its parliamentary majority, 12 of its MPs are facing a range of court cases and one has already been jailed.
Dapperly dressed in a pale grey jacket, matching v-neck and trilby, Mr Biti receives guests in a spartan ante-room to his 6th floor Finance Ministry office in Harare. “There is no doubt that these are engineered prosecutions intended to whittle down our parliamentary majority. The efficiency and speed, the exuberance and energy with which they are being done is not normal,” said the former lawyer.
–Agencies