Govt Will Not Drop Charges Against Biti- Information Ministry Secretary Responds To US

Information Ministry spokesperson Nick Mangwana responded to  United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mr Matthew Harrington’s call for Government to drop charges against MDC deputy national chairperson Tendai Biti.

Mangwana said Government will uphold the rule of law and will not take directives from the United States on who to prosecute and who not to. During a US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, on Thursday, Harrington said the Government of Zimbabwe “should drop spurious charges against former finance minister and prominent opposition figure Tendai Biti and all those who have been arbitrarily detained for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms”. Said Mangwana:

The Government cannot on one hand say no one is above the law and everyone should enjoy the benefit of due process as enshrined in our Constitution and statutes and on the other hand interfere with that due process. Rule of law means that nobody is above the law regardless of their social station, including who their friends are within or outside the country. Government will continue to engage with those who we don’t necessarily agree with us on some matters in order to find common ground. However, that does not include directives from those friends or allies on who to prosecute and who not to prosecute, who to appoint to certain positions or not. That would be contrary to the ethos which informs our sovereignty and independence.

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