There are reports that the Attorney General is ready to formally charge Finance Minister Tendai Biti with treason, and to also arrest Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma on kidnapping charges, SW Radio Africa has been told.
A highly placed source in the MDC told us on Friday that Johannes Tomana, under instruction from some members of ZANU PF, has already crafted the indictment charge sheet and was waiting for Biti to return from London before formally laying charges against him.
Biti returned to Harare on Wednesday after a few days in Brussels and London as part of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's delegation. The Finance Minister, who is also the secretary general of the MDC, confirmed to SW Radio Africa about the plot. 'Yes I've heard of the plan (arrest) from reliable sources but I can't comment any further,' Biti said.
The state first laid the treason charges against Biti last year, for allegedly authoring a document said to have contained details of a plot to 'fix' the election outcome. Biti denies the allegations and maintains charges against him were politically motivated.
Authorities last year April produced a secret document, alleged to have been drafted by Biti, showing how teachers employed by the electoral commission had agreed to overstate the MDC votes, in return for payment. The document has already been discredited and most analysts point a finger towards the agents of the Central Intelligence Agency for drafting it.
After several court appearances last year, and with the state seemingly losing its case against Biti, the AG's office agreed to remove him from bail and said they would proceed with the case by way of summons.
A source at Harvest House, the headquarters of the MDC, said in simple terms the re-arrest of Biti and Mangoma, two key members of government spearheading the economic revival of the country, would surely signal the end of the Inclusive Government.
Not much is known about the Mangoma kidnapping allegation, but the Makoni North MP and MDC deputy treasurer-general, has been arrested on countless occasions in the last two years. On all occasions he has been released without being charged.
'In simple, this will be the end of the Inclusive Government, surely because one would be hard pressed to justify why we should continue to be part of the 'half fish-half human' government,' our source said.
Political analyst Glen Mpani warned that the consequences of such arrests would be costly, and unimaginable.
'The plot to arrest Biti and Mangoma is ample evidence all is not well in the inclusive government. What it simply shows is that the hardliners will stop at nothing to try and ensure that they entrap those they consider to be the key pillars in the sustenance of the life of the MDC,' Mpani said.
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Will the Minister Of Menu Subsitutions be charged with sedition? The discovery of an asian freshwater turtle on the carving table at the Ministry of Barbecue's buffet continues to claim new victims. The original charges of small portions by the Ministry of Weights and Measures ballooned as technicians from several ministries gave conflicting testimony. Taste technicians who had the last word on whether or not the " roast" in question was beef or not refused to testify; they claimed that it was so long since they had eaten any real beef that they had forgotten the taste. DNA studies were called for, however, the entire "roast" was consumed in testing by the technicians. Coincidentally, a Far Eastern registered freighter rumored to be carrying a cargo of similar "roasts" is being shadowed off the coast.
While absolute rubbish like this floats around no aid, no money, no sympathy, and no tollerance to ZANUpf and the illigitimate government of robber mugabe! Africa the laughing stock of the world. I wonder why?
This just proves beyond any reasonable doubt that ZanuPf is not wanting to abide by the GNU and wants to derail everything that the MDC part of the GNU has achieved. It shows that the MDC is for the people nd ZanuPF is just for themselves and nobody else what so-ever. This will also prove to the outside world that Mugabe can't be trusted yet again and when Mugabe is shouting that the sanctions should be lifted the sanctions against him should be tightened even more than before. Never trust a terrorist.
Go to hell with your patronising so called aid!
Akapfunde, the West has given you aid and so have the Chinese people given you huge amounts of lines of credit, and all you can say is to tell someone to "go to hell with your patronizing aid?" How typically ungrateful you are. So are you like Mugabe telling the Western and now Chinese donors to "Hang?" Dumb, dumb.