CENTRAL Bank governor Gideon Gono claimed credit for the dismissal from Zanu PF and government of former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo and also told US embassy officials he would be happy to see Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa “wounded”, according to leaked US diplomatic cables.

Gono met former US ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell in December 2004 claiming to be a “messenger” from President Robert Mugabe who, the RBZ chief said, was keen to see an improvement in relations between the two countries.

During the 90-minute meeting, Gono is said to have claimed that Mugabe would soon dismiss Moyo and Chinamasa over their involvement in the Tsholotsho saga, adding the Zanu PF leader was also unhappy with Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo and his then Foreign Affairs colleague, Stan Mudenge.

However, Gono told New Zimbabwe.com on Saturday that most of Dell’s claims amounted to “fiction, opinion and character assassination” which were deliberately stripped of their context.

He said the events related to took place at a time Zanu PF and government officials decided to employ a "good cop/bad cop strategy" in their dealings with the West as the country battled crippling economic sanctions.

“If you draw conclusions outside the full context in which things are said and discussed, you run the risk of missing the real issues completely. Beyond these remarks, I have nothing else to say," Gono said.

Still, Dell claimed the RBZ chief told him Mugabe was furious that an unnamed local banker had funded the infamous Tsholotsho meeting which allegedly discussed possible changes to the Zanu PF top leadership.

Gono said the banker had mistaken Mugabe’s close association with Moyo and Emmerson Mnangagwa – then the Speaker of Parliament -- for the President’s endorsement of the so-called Tsholotsho conspiracy.

“By having spent four hours at the wedding of Mnangagwa’s child, Mugabe conveyed the false impression to the Zanu PF faithful that the Speaker was his heir apparent,” Ambassador Dell said in his report.

“Likewise, Information Minister Moyo’s frequent visits to the President had conveyed the false impression that he was speaking on behalf of Mugabe, including when he organised the Tsholotsho meeting.”

“Gono predicted Mugabe would not include Moyo in the new (Zanu PF) politburo (adding that) without a politburo seat, Moyo could not plausibly continue as the government’s official spokesman. Gono confirmed that many in Zanu PF were fed up with Jonathan and his approach and supported his ouster,” Dell said.

The RBZ governor also suggested Chombo, Mudenge and Chinamasa were similarly imperilled and could lose their cabinet seats – although none went the way Gono predicted.

Said Dell: “Gono also postulated that Chinamasa’s influence was waning and that Mugabe might exclude the Justice Minister from the new politburo, in part a result of Gono’s own efforts to undermine him (Chinamasa).

“The RBZ governor explained he had ‘no sympathy’ for Chinamasa after he turned down the UN Development Programme’s election assistance offer. Gono (said) that it was sometimes a good thing to see people like Chinamasa get ‘wounded’.

“He added that Mugabe also expressed displeasure with Local Governments Minister Chombo and Foreign Minister Mudenge, and that both of them could be on their way out as well.”

Dell concluded his report by saying Gono’s “considerable ego and ambition” made it difficult to determine whether the RBZ chief was speaking for Mugabe or just engaging in some “self-serving spin”.

“Gono … clearly has designs on still higher office. The bulk of the conversation was about politics regardless of the fact that as RBZ governor, Gono’s writ is confined largely to economics,” Dell wrote.

“In fact, he works to portray himself as having a much larger role and great sway over Mugabe, albeit on an informal basis. It is hard to say just how far Gono’s ambitions go but he certainly aims as far as Prime Minister should that position be recreated.”