Tendai Biti

Tendai Laxton Biti (born 6 August 1966) is the Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-Tsvangirai) political party in Zimbabwe and a member of Parliament for Harare East.

Early life

Biti was born in Dzivarasekwa, Harare. From 1980 to 1985 he attended Goromonzi High School where he was appointed deputy head boy in 1985 later joining 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.

Political career

In 1999 he helped found the MDC. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Harare East 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. [http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-06-16-voa11.cfm Zimbabwe police seize opposition leader's passport] , VOA News, June 16, 2007.]

2008 elections

Biti was re-elected to the House of Assembly from Harare East in the March 2008 parliamentary election. According to official results, he received 8,377 votes against 2,587 for the ZANU-PF candidate. [ [http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/electoral203.17984.html "Zimbabwe election results 2008"] , newzimbabwe.com, April 1, 2008.] 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. [ [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3045&art_id=nw20080516165325882C474016 "Zim run-off set for June 27"] , Sapa-Associated Press ("IOL"), May 16, 2008.]

Arrest

Biti returned to Zimbabwe on June 12 and was immediately arrested at the airport in Harare. Before his departure from Johannesburg, 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. [ [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3045&art_id=nw20080612142606644C876967 "Top MDC official arrested"] , Sapa-Associated Press ("IOL"), June 12, 2008.] 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. [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3045&art_id=nw20080612173102675C939461 "MDC's Biti 'will face treason charges'"] , Sapa-Associated Press ("IOL"), June 12, 2008.] This document, which was called "The Transition Strategy" and was said to have been written by Biti on March 25, [http://allafrica.com/stories/200806190769.html "Biti Remanded in Custody"] , "The Herald" (allAfrica.com), June 19, 2008.] included purported plans to rig the election in favor of the MDC. [ [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=vn20080617060606288C295822 "Zim police seeks 'evidence' against Biti"] , "The Star" ("IOL"), June 17, 2008, page 5.] 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. [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=nw20080619152138872C327253 "No election for Zim's Biti"] , Sapa-AFP ("IOL"), June 20, 2008.]

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. [Cris Chinaka, [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=nw20080613160927140C865739 "War vets are ready for battle, says Mugabe"] , Reuters ("IOL"), June 13, 2008.] He appeared in court on June 14. [ [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3045&art_id=nw20080614131556632C583966 "Biti appears in court"] , Sapa-Associated Press ("IOL"), June 14, 2008.]

Biti's home was searched by the police on June 16, although the police did not take anything out of the home. [Basildon Peta and Sapa-Associated Press-AFP, [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3045&art_id=vn20080617064140743C530216 "Mugabe threatens another Tsvangirai arrest"] , "The Mercury" ("IOL"), June 17, 2008, page 2.] [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=vn20080617060606288C295822 "Zim police seeks 'evidence' against Biti"] , "The Star" ("IOL"), June 17, 2008, page 5.] 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. [Hans Pienaar and Xolani Mbanjwa, [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3045&art_id=vn20080619055348209C690567 "Mbeki in Bulawayo amid election fears"] , "The Star" ("IOL"), June 19, 2008, page 1.] 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 dollars; he was also required to surrender his home's title deeds and to report to the police on a weekly basis. [ [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=nw20080626133514874C541323 "MDC Biti out on bail"] , Sapa-AFP ("IOL"), June 26, 2008.] 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. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/10/news/Zimbabwe.php "Zimbabwe opposition, gov't talk in South Africa"] , Associated Press ("International Herald Tribune"), July 10, 2008.] [Nelson Banya, [http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/07/10/africa/OUKWD-UK-ZIMBABWE-CRISIS.php "Zimbabwe opposition denies negotiations started"] , Reuters ("International Herald Tribune"), July 10, 2008.]

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. [ [http://allafrica.com/stories/200808280608.html "Biti's Application for Removal from Remand Thrown Out"] , "The Herald" (allAfrica.com), August 28, 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/viewinfo.cfm?id=1169 The Zimbabwean Leadership Profiles]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3451861.stm "Zimbabwe MDC's economic blueprint" 3 February 2004, BBC News]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1854408.stm "Opposition anger at Zimbabwe deal" 2 March 2002, BBC News]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6457329.stm "Tsvangirai leaves Harare hospital" 16 March 2007, BBC News]