Its not Just Home Affairs- Biti
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October 29, 2008 | By Metro Staff Writer | © zimbabwemetro.com ⋅
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The MDC party’s Secretary General,Tendai Biti has said on Tuesday that the current deadlock is not just on the Home Affairs ministry but 10 ministries and reiterated that the party President Morgan Tsvangirai will not attend an extraordinary summit of the regional SADC grouping that will discuss the country’s stalled power-sharing deal if he is not issued a passport.
An agreement was yet to be reached on the allocation of at least 10 key ministries, 10 governor’s posts and the composition of a proposed national Security Council – contrary to a statement by SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamoa that the ministry of home affairs was the only one yet to be agreed upon argued Tendai Biti,MDC-Harare East.
“We identified 10 key ministries which we believed are supposed to be shared equitably. However, there is an attempt to ignore or overlook these fundamental principles and hence the claim in some circles that only the portfolio ministry of Home Affairs is outstanding. Nothing can be further from the truth,” said Biti.
Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders are set to hold an emergency summit on Zimbabwe in coming weeks after the regional grouping’s Organ on Politics, Defence and Security failed on Tuesday to persuade Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe to reach agreement on the composition of a government of national unity outlined under last month’s power-sharing accord.
The 15-nation bloc has not yet stated where and when it will hold the emergency summit but Biti told journalists in Harare that Tsvangirai would not attend the summit if it is held outside Zimbabwe – unless he is given a passport.
“We will not travel on an emergency document. It’s an insult,” said Biti, adding that the matter of Tsvangirai’s passport was now a “political issue” and not just a simple case of whether the MDC leader was given the travel document.
Tsvangirai, who is prime minister designate under the stalled power-sharing deal, has not been granted a normal passport for months, and requires emergency travel documents every time he leaves the country.
The MDC says the refusal by Mugabe’s government to issue Tsvangirai with a passport is symbolic of the veteran leader and his ruling ZANU PF party’s insincerity and lack of commitment to genuinely sharing power with the opposition.
Biti told the news conference that agreement on the distribution of powerful ministries among the parties to the power-sharing agreement could be reached in just two days only if there was commitment on the part of ZANU PF.
“The core of our differences with ZANU PF is the pure lack of sincerity on the part of ZANU PF,” he said.
Tsvangirai refused to attend a summit in Swaziland last week in protest at long delays in receiving his travel papers. He even refused an offer to travel to Mbabane in King Mswati III’s private jet, insisting he would only leave Zimbabwe with a passport and not an emergency travelling document.
The MDC secretary general also said the issue of appointment of permanent secretaries of ministries and ambassadors as well as what he said was the question of “fraudulent alteration of the agreement” agreed upon on 11 September still had to be discussed.
The opposition claims that alterations were made to the original agreement reached on September 11 which they say is different to the one eventually signed on September 15 by Tsvangirai, Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara, who heads a breakaway MDC faction.
Biti said: “It is clear that there is so much that still has to be done and a lot of goodwill, patience and wisdom, which so far has not been evident or has not been exercised.”
Zimbabwe’s historic power-sharing deal that was brokered by former South African President Thabo Mbeki on behalf of SADC retains Mugabe as president while making Tsvangirai prime minister and Mutambara deputy prime minister.
The bare bones agreement allots 15 Cabinet posts to Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party, 13 to the Tsvangirai-led MDC and three to Mutambara’s faction.
However it is silent about who gets which specific posts and the rival parties have since the signing of the agreement wrangled over who should control the most powerful ministries such as defence, finance and home affairs.
–Additional reporting by ZimOnline
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wat the mdc is trying govt paralasis and zanu pf shld now stop toking to these puppets.these toks r going on a merry go round for ever.we have bn telling pres to form a govt nw and mayb wen these fools r serious cn b coopted in.nw they r not serious.y does zanu nd mdc,as far as im concerned mdc does not offer anything nw,i was of the opinion that mdc in govt will b able to bring in aid from western donors and have the sanctions removed.but with the west going thru turmoil financial,we r on our own.things r luking beta 4 zanu with bush sure to go and in come barack whose policy is even to tok to those who does not agree with,mayb he will hear zanu and mdc point of view.hear in sa anc is in turmoil,where zuma and his anc have bn spitting rubbish against zanu coz of their links to cosatu whose symphathy is with mdc.in zambia if they dnt cheat sata we r likely to have him in power ,an ally for zanu.so let mdc fool themselves by their fantom power.we dnt nd them they dnt change.this is the bottom we r in and there cn b no otha bottom than this.even if more sanctions r imposed.
Nicol,I think you missing the big picture here the pple are suffering and at the present moment ZPF has nothing to offer the pple and as for MDC they cannot jus be dragged to sign the agree on forming a gnu without having there own concerns being addressed. A msitake that ZPF can make at the present moment is to form a gvt without MDC esp MDC-T coz it is not going to work it is them who need MDC-T not the other way around.
Aboslutely Tendai, that is the only way to go at the moment. Simple, no passport, no talks.
The SADC is very naive to think that this passport issue is just a minor internal matter.
and as for the very misguided NICOL in the previous post; this person needs to get back and learn what the difference is between a government that steals revenue for the benefit of the leaders, or a government that distributes revenue towards the benefit of its people. It’s not rocket science.
I don’t think what My Mugabe and his cronies doing is fair, if they are really committed to the crucial talks they wouldn’t commint such crimes like what Manyika is doing, if they reaally have a team spirit they were going to act with restraint
state media must give a true reflection of whats on the ground not give us an opinionated report….
Nicol,you should understand that the MDC was overwhelmingly elected into power by the majority of Zimbabweans in March this year.This is the only legitimate election that was conducted in Zimbabwe this year for both the parliamentary and presidential elections.Your leader Mugabe lost the presidential election to Tsvangirai of the MDC.How can you say Tsvangirai is a puppet when he was elected by the majority of Zimbabweans?Your zanu pf can go ahead and form a government but that will be useless to the people of Zimbabwe including you because nothing will change! Zanu pf has been in power for nearly 30yrs and if you are honest , can you state to yourself in a whisper how your life changed for the better under zanu pf?The truth is you are worse off!! This is the reason why we need new people with new ideas in government and not the same old rubbish.Why should change be resisted only in Zimbabwe when all over the world governments are changing?You should be very stupid to dream that Obama would support Mugabe when he gets elected president of the USA next week!Remember he is different from Mbeki.It is only he and you who are still not tired of Mugabe and zanu pf the world over,but then look where Mbeki is right now because of that blindness.You talk of sanctions on Mugabe?Which sanctions?Is it not Mugabe who imposed sanctions on the people of Zimbabwe?Remember people of Zimbabwe are not allowed by Mugabe to (i)vote freely for a party of their choice(ii)access donated food(iii)demonstrate against harsh government laws(iv)have access to clean water,quality education and free worship(v)freedom of movement and expression(vii)enjoy basic health care(viii)live a life free of fear of wanton beatings or even death, to mention just a few?When the international community tightens the screws against Mugabe so that he frees Zimbabweans,we dont call it sanctions, but a liberation struggle!!Nicol if you dont have anything to say just yawn! It is true that fools rush where angels fear to tread.Nicol,you are one such fool !!
Thanks for now being reasonable Scarface.I wonder why Zanu is holding Morgan’s passport.My sister got a vacancy for a Degree programme @ Rhodes University in SA and yesterday she got a full passport and not ETD,so why deprive the Prime Minister designate? Eliot Manyika is running riot and Mugabe is quite! The 15th September deal talks of no hate language and the Herald and ZBC are running acres of hate language.For sure Zanu does not want MDC anywhere near them.Remember Bob once said “As long as he is alive Morgan will never ever taste power”.I see even SADC failing on this thing.Lets wait for the summit.Nothing will come through!!
It’s clear that ZPF hardliners (junta and all) are keen to see these talks fail for their own ends. An impotent SADC, a partisan Troika, a weak AU and a bureaucratic UN wont lift a finger to deal with them until another Rwanda has obtained.
If the miracle currently taking place within Scarface replicates itself within the ZPF hardliners, this crisis would end within days. The tragedy of humanity is that such conversions only occur after an enormous bloodbath!
who ever has hijacked scarface s name is a **** bcoz scarface does not think like you he knows how to use his brains unlike you . you first washed your brains in the washing machine and you expect them to work again , dont take a lot of water cause your brains are getting drenched use your proper identity you are such a coward like your leader who wont attend the summit
mugabe.you are an idiot like your name says. Your head is full of mugabage.
nicol how do you even suggest that your idiotic president and master mugabage form his own government when there are African presidents who do not recognize his one man show election, who will he trade with the east again. zanupf fools stop day dreaming thinking there is anything new that your master will do in Zimbabwe except more damage and destroying the country. Guys we are so patient for a new zimbabwe and one day our prayers will be answered. Its such a sad scenario that some time ago if you tell the world that you are from Zimbabwe they will know that you are an educated person nowadays they say we are beggars. We will continue being waiters and waitresses minders of old people in UK and Nurses till these bastards are out of power and go back home to re-build zimbabwe without zanu pf. I WANT TO KNOW WHO ON EARTH SAID THERE SHALL NOT BE A COUNTRY IN ZIMBABWE WITHOUT mugabe WHO SAID THAT!!!!!!!
IT is very clear tha Chematama in not serious abt assiting the pple of Zimbabwe surely one can not boycott the Troika meeting simple bcoz aida kutamba Golf, golf yacho yaasingagone as McGEE said “He is still new to the game”.Right he is wasting time talking abt pasport when the pple are suffering in fact this shows us that he is an intellectual midget anorwara nepfungwa.Ndaabvise masanctions or else ETD.Tsvangirai sucks,go to hell yu son of a bhichi.
Savimbi you are the son of a bitch, sanctions are there because of your master mugabe. Passport is a right, what powers does Morgan have to influence the west to impose sanctions on any country. The sanctions are there because of mugabes policies, and human rights abuses mata yehmunu savimbi. When are you guys going to open your brains and evaluate things closely. Let mugabe run his Zimbabwe alone we will see what he will succeed, one thing that I fail to understand about dofos like you is that the majority of Zimbabweans voted mugabe the idiot out of power and you cannot accept that fact. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU WHO STILL ARE SUPPORTING THE MURDERER THIEF mugabe and his zanu pf thugs.
HEEEEE VANA KITSY THEY HAVE DIMPLOMATIC PASSPORT TO TRAVELL AS MUCH AS SHE CAN TO SWIM LIKE A FISH IN THE LAKE…..PRIMINISTER OPIWA ETD..TRAVELLERS DOCUMMENT…WATCH TSWANGIRAYI NYAYA NDEYOKUTI UCHAWURAYIWA ZWAKO SOON URI AROUND ZIMBABWE WHY DO THEY SCARE IF YOU CAN HAVE A PROPER PASSPORT WHAT KIND OF DEAL ARE YOU SHARING WITH A KILLER….STEP BACK AND LOOK FORWARD THERE IS DANGER WHERE YOU GOING….
NICOL…..chitongai tione!!!!!!!!! ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!
Go ahead Zanu pf and form a government tione kuti munosvikepi. Why threaten heeeeee wil form the government heeeeeeee tsvangi is not serious heeeeee hogwash bull****……. tongai tione….
mdc ngaichingorega zvematoks zvacho kana zvichinetsa, taneta isu nekutambisirwa nguva yedu. makunyanyodawo kutonga hunhu hwenyu nehwamugabe same same.
edzayi zvimwe inga mugabe akaedza zvimwe wani smith paakaramba kutaurirana, munenge matofowo futi imi.
wonaiwo video iyo pamwe mungafunde zviviri kana zvitatu
check out the video The late Josiah. Tongogara’s Vision for Zimbabwe, now playing on Brightcove.tv.
Watch Now
http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1360352296
Nicol, in case you just woke up from a 28 year old sleep, let me update you. A government without Tsangirai is what Zanu PF has had for the past 28 years culminating in what we are witnessing in Zimbabwe right now i.e. inflation, hunger, strife, disease, corruption, etc. This is as far as their intellect can take us, they are bankrupt of ideas, they are not capable of taking us out of this mess despite their degrees and Ph.D’s. thats why in fact they always resort to violence to make a point. They can go on for ever, but you know what, they have reached the ceiling in terms for what they can offer Zimbabweans. You can’t squeeze any compassion out of these people, they are heartless. My prayer though is that, they may one day bear in mind the suffering masses.
Mugabe is more famous than george bush and gordon brown put together. Thanks mugabe for understanding what scarface stands for. He will never eat in the same room with puppets. Scaface is pure zanu pf blood for life . Those who know me know that i do not rate mdc because they are infected puppets. We hit them with facts and now they cant come up with answers so instead they try to abuse my name. They have proved that they are just as brainless as their brain dead leader . His head is so thick he cant think for himself.
Morgan was a waste of sperm just like baba the fool who is using my name here. Scarface is zanu pf 4 ever so please dont force me to supports a party of puppets…flip floppers …mentaly deluded by colonialists ..mdc. morgan will never rule even if it means our country will suffer under sanctions. We will eat roots and leaves until the world gives up supporting the mdc and bowe down to zanu pf .We are in charge of our destiny.we will not let westerners **** us from behind -thas a job for the mdc-botswana and now zambia and cosatu. Let them get ****ed. We will never allow mdc to rule -they can work as tea boys and waiters in gvt because that is what they are used to and wiping old ladies bottoms in the diaspora. munotinhuwira…bunch of fools. viva zanu till the end of time. we have enough degrees to deal with puppets..dont over do it. Home affairs or not we will still be in charge..get it? C10 -militia -army -war vets-scarface and his M16 vs police and mdc? no chance zrp.
come on tea boy -another cup please.Throw in some lemon buiscuits with cream. once a tea boy always a tea boy. Running zimbabwe is not like making tea in the mines-any job in zimbabwe needs minimum standard of basic o levels -hauna mudhara. Njere kuribe morgan…
How can you reach the ceiling when your country is under sanctions? These mdc fools amaze me.where where you educated if at all. Your leader has no basic o levels and yet in zim it is standard requirement for even a garden boy…zvinoshamisa wakomana
mdc is full of these so called new pple and educated who think they only have the antidote for zim.most of them loud mouths working in the diaspora washing old weman and doing al these manual jobs in the uk ,usa.i have built a name and business in sa and have excelled having bn tot electronics in zim by mugabe and neva have i kold anyone boss in my entire life.so wen we speak we r nt stooges of zanu bt young bzness pple who have under difficult conditions excelled in our fields in foregn countries.so wen we speak about tough times we kno wat is to sleep without food,sleeping outside and rising from there to own property here in sa and zim,we r not just loud mouths.mdc from tsvangirai to the lowest member have neva even run a shabeen ,wat experience do they tok about.tisuka tiri kutonga we have experience both in and out of govt.neva benefitted from zanu partronage but our conviction that the policies pursed by zanu if implemented can make us masters of our destiny,wen we engage outsiders we r our own bosses.not bcoz they gave us aid to c us thru.having come to sa with no dime but nw have workers who kol u boss,this is wat we r in zanu.i have gone to zim and found these young bzness pple under difficult conditions r making ,get the sanctions of and these r the guys to turn around zim.sanctions r real.ok u put swanctions 4 mugabe and his ministers,just lk u put sanctions against the manager,the ceo,the whole management ,who is going to go arpund negotiating deals for the company.in this case u have also put sanctions on the company.sanctions r real.i admire gono wat he has done under sanctions,remove them and we have a man who has sn it all.wat does the governor of botswana ,sa,mozambique e.t.c doing that gono does not kno.they r nt under sanctions.this is plain and simple zim is under sanctions.in tsvangirai i c a fool who is blinded by dollars and pounds he has nt worked for ,bt gotten from selling out his country.thats y in zanu we hate him with a passion.lets hear wat u guys r doing bside blaming zanu baba wat r u doing to help build or destroy zim.tell us.do u change yo money at the black market then later blame mugabe or gono 4 economic decay.wat r u doing all mdc in yo host counries r u working 4 someone as an engineer,chemist,doctor ,nurse e.t.c,we r running our own companies and building brands that one day will make zim proud.say wat u want zanu is rite.
iri rinonzi zwangendaba idofo chairo.first harigone chishona kana chirungu chacho.hameno kuti rakafunda nepahwindo here.bt it all reflects the palookas who r in the mdc.hw do they understand each otha if iri richitaura rangweji yakabonyeka so.zvakakuomerai mademocrates.just lk yo leader unschooled.
BABA i told you scarface is back make sure u understand his comments not awenu agcwele isihlama but why would you hijack someone else name when you know that your brain is smaller than his. next time dont fool us CAUSE scarface will never write ****e like you RESPECT
I think its disappointing that we have people like Nicol in this country, people who have told themselves that Bob was meant to be the leader of the country regardless of how much suffering Nicol himself and the public have to endure. I am currently resident outside the country but i travel home every now and again, and it pains me to see the kind of suffering people have to go through all because some individual is holding onto power because of PRIDE (because i cant see there being any other reason to stay in power).
To be frank he has no PRIDE left and i dont see any other reason why he should hold on because by now even him, he has realised that he has failed to govern the country.
When will people go back to being at least a normal society again, with running water in taps, electricity in the homes, cash available in the banks (where the daily limits you never know about because there will be no need to get so much cash from the bank), functional hospitals, schools where children go to learn (a lot of people have started sending their kids to schools outside Zim), shops with goods on the shelves etc. All these should be the norm, these are not luxuries Nicol, these are basic needs i’m talking of here.
I think any normal human being should see that ZPF has failed the nation, we have hit rock-bottom and we continue to dig (redifining rock bottom daily), there are things in life called choices, yes we can choose not to keep supporting this failed regime and try new leaders. Yes noone knows for sure what MDC will do for the public, but surely from where we are right now it can only get better.
nicol i****. how can an exiled person say zanu pf is right yet he left his or her home for SA. hameno kuti munhui iyeye. kana ari murume haana jende chete
Scareface and Nicol you lack basic understanding of issues and education murimadofo continue with your zanu pf and support your thugs, but I think mugabe shall go 100% mad very soon as he is maybe 90% mad now. He will definately never rule zimbabwe for ever, if you guys continue this way there shall be another Rwanda in the SADC region and I am sure you will still be proud of that madofo evhanu.
Scarface. I would never use your name to write under.You are a fool if you think i would stoop as low as you who writes in one name and then replies in another.Again you show the world what a thick uneducated delinquent you are.The whole world knows that the targeted sanctions are on baboon and his monkeys as they are the ones who put them there.You can cry out as loud as you want but no one is going to fall for your lies. Those days are over.You may have fooled the world once but you will not fool them again.They are now wise to your propaganda and lies.You are in charge of your destiny and if you continue on the same road your destiny will soon be death.The struggle is nearly over and you monkeys are on the losing end.As for you NICOL you are more of an idiot than scarface.I change my money at the correct rate not gonos fictitious rate.NICOL have you tried to get foreign currency out of a Zimbabwean bank.You cant even get local currency from the bank. Open your eyes and try using your brain you idiot.
baba its me dont insult u scarface ngoba angikholwa ukuthi uyakhona ukuloba ngesindebele engikucela kuwe please respect him
Scarface will not even get respect from his own children let alone a dog.No one can respect a piece of crap.
Why do yu remove my comments
BABA FINAL WARNING RESPECT SCARFACE OTHERWISE I WILL SHOUT AT YOU . KHANKA LOMUNTU AWULANQONDO SIBUNGU SOMUNTU RESPECT