By John Sigauke
…as Chamisa unleashes Varakashi on him
The bickering within the MDC Alliance presidium continues to crescendo with that party’s leader, Nelson Chamisa hurling every weapon he bumps into, to his fiercest rival, Tendai Biti.
The Harare Post had it on good authority that Chamisa is now pushing hard to have Biti arrested for the misdeeds he committed while he was the minister of Finance and Economic Development in the fragile inclusive government.
Sources say Chamisa has assembled a squad of cyber-brigades to spread, on social media, all the damning information about Biti.
“A team of cyber trolls has been drawn together to make sure that any information that incriminates Biti is widely circulated on social media. The grand objective is to set an agenda for ZACC (Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission) for Biti to be probed for the transgressions he committed during his time as minister of Finance and Economic Development,” said one source.
Investigations by this publication have revealed that most of the MDC WhatsApp groups are awash with MDC-T Vice President, Obert Gutu’s tweets which are implicating Biti in some bank scandals including the alleged disappearance, under his watch, of millions of public funds in the now collapsed Interfin Bank.
“Millions of public funds in US dollars disappeared in the now collapsed Interfin Bank Limited as a direct result of the fraudulent activities of some corrupt but loud-mouthed MDC Cabinet Ministers during the GNU era. This is not fiction. It's a fact. ZACC is investigating,” reads one of Gutu’s sensational tweets trending in MDC WhatsApp groups.
The tweet was in apparent reference to the allegations that Biti instructed the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) to deposit over US$30m into two banks which have since collapsed.
The money was deposited into Interfin Merchant Bank and Renaissance Bank on separate occasions.
“This isn't a grudge. Corruption is corruption, regardless of who commits it. I will always speak truth to power. Let ZACC complete its investigations and then you will be shocked by the level of duplicity and corruption. It's game on,” reads another tweet by Gutu doing rounds on MDC social media platforms.
In one of the groups – Nelson Chamisa 2019, members explicitly castigate Biti saying he is power hungry and of unstable disposition.
“President (Chamisa) made a grave mistake of accommodating these rebels. You cannot tame an old wild animal, Save (Morgan Tsvangirai) was right when he expelled these power hungry creatures. They are fuelling factionalism within our party. ZACC must act fast,” said one group member.
In another WhatsApp group, MDC Alliance Chamisa 2019, Gutu’s tweet torched a storm with a few members supporting Biti whom they say is more decisive and rational. The debate resulted in all Biti fans being removed from the group.
Relations between Biti and Chamisa soured after the former felt the MDC leader wanted to sideline him. Chamisa had relegated Biti to an insignificant post of deputy chairperson forcing the later to fight his own way into the presidium, which he successfully did.
Biti shored-up his faction by accommodating former secretary general Douglas Mwonzora’s faction, which itself is also deeply disgruntled over the way Chamisa elevates his former students cronies at the expense of veteran party loyalists.
Factionalism within the embattled party came to the fore during a retreat in Masvingo last week when Biti and his lieutenants openly chastised Chamisa for not visiting the party’s deputy chairman, Job Sikhala who was at Mutimurefu Prison facing treason charges. The Biti faction also censured Chamisa for the loss in Bikita East by-election, charging that he failed to honour his promise to address the final campaign rally in the constituency.
The two protagonists are heavily divided over the approach to take against Zanu PF. While Chamisa wants a soft approach that entails prayer meetings and dialogue, Biti is advocating confrontational approach. As a result, the two factions have been preaching different gospels at rallies.
