Zimbabwean opposition veteran and constitutional lawyer Tendai Biti, who is former Finance minister, addressed a major town hall meeting of Zimbabweans in the United Kingdom.
The public gathering was hosted by the civic organisation he leads, Constitution Defenders Forum (CDF)'s UK Federation at John Foster Hall in Leicester on Saturday.
The primary focus of his address was the contentious Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.3) Bill.
Biti, who serves as a convener for the CDF, provided a detailed breakdown of the proposed legislative changes and mobilied the diaspora to protect the country's constitution and democratic governance.
Whilst I am a Zimbabwean patriot, it is important that we do not run ahead of ourselves regarding our nation's recent election to the Security Council of the United Nations. This must be put in context and not be overblown or exaggerated as some stunning endorsement of the current regime.
For example, the last (and current ) African state elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council by the UN General Assembly on 6 June 2024 was/is Somalia. It was elected for a two-year term running from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026. Somalia received 179 votes in the General Assembly election, comfortably exceeding the required two-thirds majority.
Somalia’s economy has been growing, but from a very low base. The World Bank estimates economic growth of about 3% in 2025, down from around 4% in the preceding years. Growth has been slowed by droughts, declining foreign aid, inflation, and ongoing security problems.
Key features of the economy include:
GDP of roughly US$13 billion in 2025.
GDP per capita of only about US$760, making Somalia one of the poorest countries in the world.
Heavy dependence on livestock exports, remittances from Somalis abroad, and foreign aid.
Continued vulnerability to drought, climate shocks, and reductions in international assistance.
According to the 2025 Freedom House assessment, Somalia is rated “Not Free”, scoring 8 out of 100 for political rights and civil liberties.
Major challenges include:
No nationwide direct presidential election has yet been held under the modern federal system. National leaders have generally been chosen through indirect electoral processes involving clan representatives and political elites.
Politics remains heavily influenced by clan structures.
The Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab continues to control or contest parts of the country.
Tensions often exist between the federal government in Mogadishu and regional states.
So whilst we can celebrate that Zimbabwe has been accorded this honor, the recent precedent of Somalia being voted to the same post shows this is not an endorsement of the current government or of the current regime’s attempt to desecrate our national Constitution.
I pray that having obtained this honor that we will use the position wisely and vote in manner which promotes the rule of international law. If we squander this opportunity by voting alongside tyrannies then our job of attracting good international investment beyond the extractive sector will be made even harder.
Saka ndakati ini, this one will never be a model of a businessman Zimbabwe should aspire to have. A businessman who pays social media influencers to tarnish the brand of Zimbabwe's biggest and most successful agro-food business with fake GMO campaigns; Innscor, for decades, has been the leading fiscal tax contributor alongside Econet and the best private capital formation manufacturing and foodie service conglomerate since independence that has held together the battered industrial sector. Ko kuzoti akayita President?
A group of retired military generals and former senior civil servants say they met President Mnangagwa TWICE this month to advise him to abandon plans to extend his term but he told them: “Whoever wins, wins.” They warn that the constitution will not be sold to the highest bidder
Zimpapers doubles down on gifts policy in row with Chivayo
♦️ Presenter Phathisani Sibanda and Capitalk station manager face axe
https://t.co/WRvq7ZrlfQ
𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗔 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗭𝗜𝗠𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗪𝗘. 𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗔 𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗢. 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝟭
Sonia and her mother have been arrested based on claims by Wicknell Chivayo. He alleges that Sonia refuses to give him access to his kids, and that she stole his phone, recorded a video of him with Ramaphosa, and leaked it on social media. However, he also claims that Sonia’s mother leaked the same video after he sent it to her. Both charges can’t be true at the same time, so one has to be false.
President @CyrilRamaphosa’s low-key visit to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s farm ➡️ https://t.co/O5HyVN74w2 may have been intended to dissuade him from seeking power beyond 2028, but the presence of controversial businessmen left the South African president exposed.
Report by @ShawnMatiashe.
📹 Wicknell Chivayo’s ex-wife Sonja Madzikanda says she has been arrested after he told police that she stole his phone and leaked a video “of him and a president that’s very compromising.” The video reportedly shows Chivayo meeting South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa (see screen grab in frame two) much earlier than their encounter at Pricabe Farm in Kwekwe a fortnight ago. The video would be highly damaging to Ramaphosa, whose office insisted he was seeing Chivayo for the first time during his visit to President Mnangagwa’s farm
Mr President @CyrilRamaphosa — if you endorse Emmerson Mnangagwa and his cartel's plans to capture the Zimbabwean state, even by accident, get ready to receive far more Zimbabweans at Beitbridge.
State capture is a phrase you know intimately. You built your authority on opposing it in South Africa. Yet at Mnangagwa's farm you were photographed alongside the very men engineering its replication in Zimbabwe.
You face a simple choice. Stay out of our affairs and let Zimbabweans solve this ourselves. Or use your SADC chairmanship to back the rule of law and constitutionalism in Zimbabwe. There is no third option.
We have long stopped waiting for SADC, the African Union, or any foreign capital to rescue us. We are on our own. And in a strange way, that knowledge is liberating. The world owes us nothing. The work of liberating Zimbabwe is ours. We are ready for it.
You cannot help us by helping those who are suffocating us.
Read the full Open Letter ↓
https://t.co/2KUPaCTTmw
🔸The entire continent must learn from Botswana.
1. Power is transferred in a peaceful, orderly manner.
2. The former liberation movement does not persecute the people, kill freedoms or abduct citizens who oppose it. When they lose elections, they leave.
3. It is not a crime to oppose Govt.
4. They have many former presidents and they are widely respected.
5. Former leaders become statesmen and are buried in a dignified manner. It is a state occasion that brings the whole nation together.
We need new leaders.🇿🇼