Tendai Biti quits politics
Opposition stalwart and former Finance Minister Tendai Biti has announced his retirement from party politics, drawing the curtain on a tumultuous two-decade career that helped shape Zimbabwe’s democratic struggle.
Biti, a prominent human rights lawyer, first entered the national stage in 2000 when he won a parliamentary seat under the banner of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the young opposition party then led by Morgan Tsvangirai. His sharp legal mind and combative style quickly earned him the powerful position of Secretary General of the MDC-T in 2005, making him one of Tsvangirai’s most trusted lieutenants.
Biti’s defining moment came in 2008, when he became the MDC-T’s chief negotiator during talks that ended the violent post-election crisis and ushered in the Government of National Unity (GNU). From 2009 to 2013, he served as Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister, credited with stabilising an economy ravaged by hyperinflation through dollarisation and fiscal reforms. That period cemented his reputation as one of the opposition’s most effective leaders.
Yet Biti’s career was also marked by bitter splits and defections that weakened the opposition movement. After falling out with Tsvangirai in 2014, he led a breakaway faction known as the MDC Renewal, which later became the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The move fragmented the MDC at a critical moment and drew accusations that personal ambition was undermining the broader struggle. Though Biti eventually rejoined the opposition fold under Nelson Chamisa in 2018, his political journey reflected both the vibrancy and volatility of Zimbabwe’s opposition landscape.
Announcing his retirement this week, Biti admitted the toxicity of opposition politics had worn him down.
“It’s embarrassing,” he said in an interview with ZiFM Stereo. “Particularly for people like me who have been in the trenches for a long time, who bear the scars of fighting.”
He accused opposition leaders of abandoning the struggle for personal gain. “All of us, all of them are now waiting to receive vehicles, to get a call to go and see Victor. And that’s not good enough,” he said, in a veiled reference to businessman Wicknell Chivayo’s controversial vehicle donation spree.
For Biti, the collapse of the MDC — once Zimbabwe’s strongest opposition force — remains his greatest disappointment. “It’s a pity we lost the MDC, because we had a home there… we destroyed the only home we had,” he lamented.
He reflected with regret on the toll of a life spent in perpetual struggle. “Every Saturday, every Friday I’m having a rally somewhere, I’m fighting somewhere, I’m issuing a statement somewhere. That has not been the case in the last three, four years and that’s not good enough.”
Rather than chase another party platform, Biti now advocates for a civic movement dedicated to defending Zimbabwe’s constitution. “We need to create a platform that is not political, that is not connected to any political party. Just to defend the constitution,” he said, citing the National Constitutional Assembly as a past example of a people-driven reform movement.
Biti’s withdrawal signals the fatigue of a generation of opposition leaders who bore the brunt of Zimbabwe’s pro-democracy fight, often at great personal cost, but now watch in dismay as political ideals are traded for material benefits. His pivot away from party politics may mark the end of his bid for power, but his call for constitutionalism suggests he is not done with Zimbabwe’s public life just yet.
-ZiFM Stereo
