MDC Alliance deputy chairperson Tendai Biti yesterday claimed dismantling the infrastructure of State capture would not be an easy task, as it involved first dealing with the ruling Zanu PF, which he said was the source.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
For the past two weeks, some businesspeople with strong links to the Presidium, among them Sakunda Holdings boss Kudakwashe Tagwirei, have been at the centre of controversy following revelations that they were firmly controlling levers of power through capturing the country’s leadership.
The matter has dangerously divided the ruling party, and leaders were seemingly edging towards acrimony, which has created fierce factional wars in Zanu PF.
The Harare East legislator yesterday said Zanu PF, in itself, reflected State capture through the conflation of government business.
He said the first step would be to address this conflation and institutional reforms would follow.
“There has to be serious political reforms, serious political institutional and constitutional reforms to make these institutions independent,” he said.
Biti said there has to be an understanding of State capture because it is multi-faceted other than having a few individuals reportedly calling the shots.
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“We are faced with a situation where the State and its institutions are totally owned, privatised and monopolised by a system, by a few people and so here you have multi-levels of State capture. The first one is clear takeover of the State by Zanu PF,” he said.
“There is total party-State conflation. Zanu PF and the State long ago mingled, every civil servant is made subordinate to Zanu PF and that is why many of them end up being Zanu PF MPs. When you look at Zanu PF itself, what is it serving?
“It is serving the interests of the military and it is the ultimate owner and inventor of State capture, but these are just a few people who are less than 20. They are interested in power retention and resources.”
The former Finance minister said those same characters were involved in black market forex trade, fuel shortages and have vast gold claims and inviting some dubious moguls to invest in the country.
“These are the same people who are in incestuous deals with the Chinese and the Russians. You have to study and unpack,” he said.
Biti said Parliament had a limited role in breaking the infrastructure of State capture, as it was largely controlled by Zanu PF.
“Parliament can play a role, but ultimately, the Parliament itself is subject to whoever has a majority there and the majority is Zanu PF. You cannot exclude it from captured institutions from that point of view,” he said.
In Zanu PF, already, senior officials have come out guns blazing against individuals fingered in capturing institutions of the State.
