By Felix Kundishora
A well placed source close to Tendai Biti has revealed that the MDC Co-Vice President actually crafts US policy on Zimbabwe.
According to the source, the US Embassy regularly consults Biti on what the US position on Zimbabwe and the Southern Africa Development Community should be. The source said that Biti recently requested the US Embassy to remove Kasukuwere and his other G40 cabal members from the US sanctions list and that he was the one who influenced Ambassador Brian Nichols to ensure that the Minister of State for National Security, Owen Ncube was placed under sanctions.
The MDC official further claimed that Biti had advised Nichols to cause Washington to also place Finance Minister Mtuli Ncube, Kudakwashe Tagwirei and several others on the enlarged US sanctions lists. Biti actually boasts about his new found power to deploy US sanctions against his political opponents in ZANU PF.
The well placed MDC source observed that the US and other Western countries had lost confidence in Chamisa whom they often describe as “timid and insipid.” The source emphasized that Chamisa had very little contact with the US establishment. The same applies to the Secretary for International Affairs, Gladys Hlatshwayo and her deputy, Douglas Mwonzora.
Political analysts who have commented on the issue have described the relationship between Biti and the US Government as “strange” with some suggesting that it could be treasonous. “There is something fishy about this relationship and the Government needs to act,” said one analyst.
Asked about the prospects of the re-engagement programme being pursued by the Zimbabwean Government, the MDC official declared that ZANU (PF) was “wasting its time as the US was firmly in Biti’s hands.” The official said that Biti had been assured that US sanctions would not be adjusted without the MDC’s input.
The MDC official added that Biti had advised the US to push for reforms that would cripple the Security Sector and enable the MDC to launch effective protests that would enable it to capture the State. The source revealed that if Government implements the demanded reforms in the hope that Washington would soften its position, “the US would simply demand more reforms and impose more sanctions.”
In return for the sanctions, Biti is reported to have promised to incite MDC supporters to launch provocative acts of violence that would invite a police response which would then be used as a pretext for more sanctions and more accusations of human rights violations by Washington. The source also said that Biti promised the US that he would pursue a pro-US foreign policy if he becomes Vice President or President of Zimbabwe.
