Maravi

Unknown people issue Biti with death threat, bullet

Unknown people issue Biti with death threat, bullet
Written by Kingsley Kaswende in Harare, Zimbabwe
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:33:03 AM

UNKNOWN people have delivered a parcel containing a live bullet and a death threat at Zimbabwe's finance minister Tendai Biti's house.

Police, Biti's party MDC and his aide Nqobizitha Mlilo all confirmed that Biti on Monday morning received a live bullet and a handwritten note enclosed in a khaki envelope, and addressed to him at his Harare home in the affluent suburb of Highlands - east of the city.

The parcel contained a 9mm bullet and note, written in shona language. The note was written: "Raira nhaka," loosely translated as "sort out your estate" or "prepare your will."

When contacted, Biti confirmed he had taken delivery of the parcel but said he was not shaken.

"I am undeterred. Violence is the language of the intellectually defeated," Biti said in brief remarks.

Mlilo said Biti viewed this as a threat on his life and took the matter seriously.

"He says it is the first time he has seen a bullet in his life and it is also the first time his family had endured something like this," Mlilo said.

Biti reported the matter to Harare Central Police as he viewed this as a serious threat to himself and his family, and the Central Intelligence Organisation that is charged with protecting Cabinet ministers has now taken charge of the investigations.

The bullet, note and envelope have since been sent for forensic investigations in the capital.

Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena also confirmed the incident, but said he would issue a comprehensive statement later.

The MDC called for a full investigation into the death threat against Biti.

"We hope that there will be full investigation on this matter and we hope that the justice system will move with speed in getting to the root of this matter. Just as a barking dog will not stop a moving train, the childish, petty and puerile forces of darkness will not deter the MDC officials in the inclusive government from working tirelessly to save Zimbabwe. This country belongs to all of us," they noted in a statement. "The live bullet delivered at Hon Biti's home is a tragic climax to the barrage of defamatory vitriol spewed through the public media ever since the Minister of Finance delivered a pro-poor mid-term fiscal policy position which was well-received by the various sectors of the economy."

The party said terror-tactics of sending live bullets to Cabinet ministers was a sure sign that the desperate forces fighting the new dispensation were getting more and more desperate every day.

President Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and another former opposition leader Prof Arthur Mutambara agreed to form an all-inclusive government under a power-sharing deal that retains Mugabe as president while making Tsvangirai prime minister and Mutambara deputy prime minister.

The coalition government is seen as offering Zimbabwe the best opportunity in a decade to restore stability and end a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis that had seen the once prosperous country suffer rampant inflation, acute food shortages, record unemployment and deepening poverty.

Labels: DEATH THREATS, TENDAI BITI

posted by MrK @ 4:30 AM