Biti dismisses Mugabe rant

Leonard Ncube Bulawayo Bureau
FORMER Finance Minister Mr Tendai Biti has denounced Mr Robert Mugabe for denigrating the new dispensation, saying the former president should be reminded that he is no longer in Government.

Last week, Mr Mugabe told journalists that the new Government was “illegitimate” and that a meeting between him and President Mnangagwa would restore constitutional order.

Mr Biti said following his resignation, Mr Mugabe’s role can only come “maybe” as a member of the council of elders should such a body be put in place.

Mr Biti was speaking during a panel discussion during the 5th Chief Executive Officers’ Africa Round Table in Victoria Falls last Friday.

When the director of ceremonies asked the panellists to comment on Mr Mugabe’s claims that President Mnangagwa’s administration was illegitimate, Mr Biti said: “The former president must understand his time is up. We must create a council of elders made of elderly people who can sit and advise the State and maybe he should be there.

“If ED (President Mnangagwa) was here we would have told him to form one.”

Deputy Minister of Finance Terrence Mukupe said Mr Mugabe needed to rest.

“In our African culture we respect the elderly and as such we respect what the former President did for this country,” he said.

“But the criminals around him need to be stopped because he needs to retire, rest and write books so we learn from him.”

At the weekend, Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba said Mr Mugabe must approach the courts of law if he believed President Mnangagwa’s administration lacked constitutional legitimacy.