Gono speaks on stolen RBZ gold
STAFF WRITER
Former governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Gideon Gono has refuted assertions made by ZANU-PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa, the party’s spokesperson, claiming the bank lost an undisclosed amount of gold to an unidentified Arab nation when former president Robert Mugabe was in office.
In an address to journalists on Monday in the capital Harare, Mutsvangwa asserted that the gold was intended to deal with the sanctions that the United States of America had placed on Zimbabwe.
Though Mutsvanga did not identify Gono specifically, he did state that it occurred during the tenure of a central bank governor who is now retired, which stoked rumors that Gono, who oversaw the RBZ from 2003 to 2013, may be involved.
Gono rejected Mutsangwa’s claim yesterday.
“Recent pronouncements by Chris Mutsvangwa, falsely alleging that the RBZ lost an unspecified quantity of gold to an unnamed Arab country during the tenure of an “unnamed governor” who served under the late former President Robert Mugabe (MHDSRIEP) put the nation in a state of unnecessary frenzy,” Gono said.
He added: “If such lies are left unchecked with authentic facts, they could become that “little spark” that sets alight a whole forest at a time when the RBZ and the country at large have more important issues to deal with than waste time attending to veld-fires whose uncontrolled consequences could end up melting whatever confidence the bank is trying to build around itself, the country and this great nation at large.
And how dare we dampen people’s spirits at this “ celebratory hour” with blatant lies?
“Ordinarily, past governors are not supposed to comment publicly on matters “current” which a sitting governor is capable of dealing with regardless of which period those matters occurred. However, in this case, I feel the need for leadership in dealing with this matter, so that we do not burden our new governor John Mushayavanhu or immediate past governor John Mangudya with an historical matter that I can easily deal with myself without ambiguities.”
To set the record straight, Gono stated that the RBZ signed a contract with a foreign jewelry company in an attempt to obtain a US$150 million loan to boost the nation’s economy.
“In 2006, the RBZ after getting express approval from H.E Cde RG Mugabe entered into an agreement with a large jewelry company in Saudi Arabia. The contract sought to provide Zimbabwe with an immediate cash injection of US$150m.
“At the same time , we negotiated with large South African Bank to deposit that money with them as cash security in exchange for a Guarantee line of credit four times that amount which was used for the importation of goods from South Africa particularly electricity, fuel, grain, mining inputs, machinery, Gono said.
“It is key and important for people entrusted to speak on behalf of important organisations and political parties to always check their facts thoroughly for the sake of their own credibility and that of others.”
