(TALKZIMBABWE) Biti and the 'race to the bottom'

Biti and the 'race to the bottom'
Musa Nyatanga - Opinion
Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:45:00 +0000

FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti has made some grievous mistakes since his appointment by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his swearing in by President Robert Mugabe. Some of the mistakes he has made have had to do with his inexperience in Government. Some of them are merely results of an over-inflated ego that is not usually backed up by wisdom.

As an opposition Secretary General of the MDC-T party, he, in many people's eyes, did a tremendous job opposing Zanu PF and anything else that came in his way "to the top".

Many would recall that Biti was an executive member of the Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM) party that was led by former minister Edgar Tekere. He was also a member of the Forum Party led by the late and former chief justice Enock Dumbutshena. Then he become a member of the MDC-T party led by PM Tsvangirai.

He was a member of all these parties despite their very distinct ideological differences. One could say he was a perennial opposition member and probably did a fantastic job ruffling up Government feathers.

The MDC-T party offered Biti an opportunity to rise within the ranks. The split of the main MDC party, in particular, offered Biti the opportunity to become secretary general.

Many people doubt that he would have politically outclassed the likes of Prof Welshman Ncube, Gibson Sibanda and others had the original MDC remained intact. His race to the top would have been somewhat difficult from how it panned out to be.

For a man who rose through the party ranks because of unfortunate circumstances, Biti should give himself the opportunity to learn on the job and respect those people with tons of experience; especially PM Tsvangirai. However, his overinflated ego and deluded self belief have made him make some of the most disastrous mistakes in the history of Zimbabwean politics.

Declaring an election result before the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, regardless of how popular that action was, was a grievous mistake that probably cost him his legal and political career. Activism has a place in modern politics, but it doesn't have to be misguided.

He also made various mistakes that have exposed him, not just as a weak leader, but a politics and economics novice, making a lot of loud noises that are not supported by facts on the ground.

His first statement as minister was that all civil servants' salaries will be paid in foreign currency. That did not materialise. Biti, up to this day, is still using then Acting Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa's economic blueprint. He is running the parallel currencies as proposed in the Chinamasa budget. He is also still paying civil servants' salaries in Zimbabwean dollars directly into their accounts, and a stipend in US dollars, another Chinamasa blueprint.

The embarassing political statements he makes as finance minister have only served one purpose: to embarass him.

Defying PM Tsvangirai in public makes him look immature and inexperienced.

We hope that ultimately his uncontrollable desire "to reach the top" will not take him down.

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Musa Nyatanga is a political science student. He writes from Newcastle, England.