Staff Reporter
The United Kingdom’s parliament- House of Commons, is under spotlight over how it will handle a petition put forward to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) by a Zimbabwean pressure group, Rise Up Zimbabwe over a litany of allegations against erstwhile Finance tsar Tendai Biti.
Diplomatic sources have revealed to this publication that the FCDO has made extensive investigations on the petition and reached out to Biti for his side on the matter who reportedly rubbished the enquiry.
On the other hand, several British MPs have been engaged over the petition by representatives of the Zimbabwe pressure group for them to bring the matter formally in the House of Commons.
Formal presentations of petitions in the UK are such that only Members of Parliament can present public petitions to the House of Commons.
There are two ways in which an MP can present a public petition to the House:
MPs can present public petitions in person in the House of Commons (known as ‘on the floor of the House’).
This takes place towards the end of the day, just before the adjournment debate (a 30 minute debate at the end of a sitting of the House).
On a Monday, this is usually around 10pm; on a Tuesday or Wednesday it is about 7pm, and on a Thursday it is about 5pm.
An MP can make a short statement to explain who the petitioners are, the number of signatures the petition has, and what the petition is about. They should then read out the request that the petition makes to the House.
“It is very likely that the Biti petition will be presented in this manner by one of the MPs engaged. Spotlight will then be on how the house handle the matter.
The UK is considered a doyen of good governance, human rights and democracy. It is expected therefore that their parliament will apply itself justly on the matter, ” said a source.
The Zimbabwean group in the petition reports that Biti grabbed properties in several countries from proceeds of unexplained wealth from donor funds and wants the British government to help bring him to account or freeze the properties in offshore locations.
It is reported that he is a multi-billionaire with properties in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, United States of America, South Africa and various other properties in Zimbabwe mentioned by his wife during a divorce application.
The petition also reports that Biti leads a cartel that has overwhelming control over critical arms of government.
“Tendai Biti chooses all critical state institutions’ personnel to facilitate cartel operations. In particular he controls the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, the Judiciary and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). He visits the NPA office located at 101 Kwame Nkrumah Avenue almost daily.
“He gives instructions to the Prosecutor General, Chief Justice and Attorney General on selected matters,” reads the document by the group.
There are statements by former Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) Chairperson Loice Matanda-Moyo cited.
In 2020, Loice Matanda-Moyo said ZACC has set its sights on investigating the judiciary. She said the commission had so far submitted applications for unexplained wealth orders with the High Court of Zimbabwe.
She said, “We have started tracing assets in South Africa, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Mauritius and Kenya.”
“No development has been noted regarding the above matter thus far. Biti and the other cartel members continue to externalize funds and acquire properties in offshore jurisdictions,” reads a document prepared by the pressure group.
The pressure group also cited a complaint letter dated 26 October 2020 by Judges of the Supreme Court and High Court which said that they are so afraid of their own jobs that they consciously and sub consciously make decisions that they consider safe, even if these do not accord with the law.
No Supreme Court judgment can be delivered without the Chief Justice’s approval.
“Magistrates also wrote their own letter of complaint to the President highlighting interference by the cartel. The then Chief Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe was dismissed in 2019 for attempting to deal with the cartel and Biti in particular,” reads the document.
The group says the cartel was founded by R.G. Mugabe and Biti in 1997 with the objective being for Mugabe to stay in power until he got too old and then leave Biti in power.
The Road Map according to the group was to:
• Group all civic society under National Constitutional Assembly (NCA). Use NCA to form MDC. Use MDC to reject 2000 draft constitution in order to keep Mugabe in power indefinitely under the Lancaster House Constitution.
• Dupe white farmers into supporting MDC in the mistaken belief that they were protecting their land.
• Weaken the strong labour movement headed by ZCTU and other Civic society organizations like student unions.
• Dupe people of Zimbabwe to reject a constitution that would have curtailed Mugabe’s executive powers and introduced limited term of office.
• Dupe donors to support fake organizations, which were formed to defeat the objectives for which donations, were given. Donations were shared between R.G Mugabe and Tendai Biti.
The petition further reads:
“In 2018, Hodzi said, “A Cartel made up of Police Officers, Lawyers, Prosecutors, Magistrates, Judges and powerful Politicians has corrupted the justice delivery system in Zimbabwe and is prepared to kill to gets its way”
“He continued to say, “Now the syndicates are so powerful they rival the power of Government”
“In 2020, the Prosector General is again quoted saying, “According to Intelligence reports, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, State, Judiciary, Media are captured by the Cartel.”
“It has now been established beyond reasonable doubt and acknowledged by the current Prosecutor General that Tendai Laxton Biti is the Godfather of the cartel.”
“The cartel has got wide tentacles and billions of dollars, looted from state coffers and numerous illicit dealings including drug trafficking. It protects itself and is prepared to kill.”
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