by Gift Mashoko
Former British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Ms Catriona Laing did a sterling job during her term of office in Zimbabwe.
She managed to work well with the Zimbabwean Government and was helping in mending Zimbabwe’s relations between Britain and Zimbabwe as well as that of the opposition and Government. However, MDC Alliance Deputy Chairperson, Tendai Biti failed to appreciate Laing’s efforts and had different views.
On his twitter page, Biti attacked Laing accusing her of being partisan. Biti posted, “Catriona Laing has finally left Zim. We wish her luck in Nigeria. As we welcome the new UK Ambassador, we trust that the British Embassy will once again be the home of the Magna Carta, the home of reform, fairness & the rule of law, not of tin pots, despots and scarfs.”
In response to Biti’s tweet, netizen_musallad24@Tanaka9 tweeted, “Don’t foster negativity into people, let us rebuild the country. Let us not run away from reality let us face it. At your age, you are separating citizens just because of position to get privileges wake up mature your mind, this is not the time that…We past it and made it,”
patwag @patwag6 responded, “The British are worried about Brexit ... I don’t think they really care about some Lunatics and Psychopaths like yourself Tendai ZIDERA Biti. A person who asks for sanctions against their own country is NOT to be taken seriously, Unorwara Biti ... zidzoro,”
Biti’s statement is against Ambassador Laing’s words in which she expressed how she had worked with both the opposition and the Government, how she mediated between the two.
“To the opposition, I have been very clear with them that the pathway that we have set out for Zimbabwe to return to normal international relations would be open to any government in Zimbabwe and if the opposition had won the election, it would have been Nelson Chamisa. I would now be paying a departure call on,” she said.
“I have a good cordial relationship with him and haven’t had any problems at that level. It is the same pathway, but they are an opposition rather than in Government. My main relationship is with the Government, but I spent a lot of time listening and talking to the opposition and understanding their concerns and indeed relaying their concerns to Government to help their voice be heard,” she added.
