| The best Zimbabwe news site on the world wide web |  |
| NEWS |
| FORUMS |
| NEWS ANALYSIS |
| READERS' FORUM |
Statement by Dr Gideon Gono on Standard apology
The following is a statement issued by Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono on Monday, a day after the Standard newspaper apologised over a story published on January 7, alleging that Gono had used $365 000 of tax payers' money on a luxury Brabus E V12 biturbo vehicle from Germany:
By Dr Gideon Gono
THE STANDARD NEWSPAPER RETRACTS ITS DAMAGING STORY OF 7TH JANUARY, 2007 ABOUT GOVERNOR G. GONO’S PURCHASE OF CAR: G. GONO’S COMMENTS
1. I have seen the page one and two Apology and Retraction respectively by the Standard newspaper of 21 January 2007 and my REACTION is simple: “Give me a man or woman who has never made a mistake in his or her life and I will give you the world.” I have come face to face with numerous mistakes made by myself as well as various people in my forty-seven years of existence and almost thirty years working life.
2. Some of those mistakes that I have witnessed have been fatal or near-fatal, while others were not so serious. This one by the Standard newspaper was near fatal.
3. In both categories of mistakes, I have come to appreciate that it is not so much the mistake which matters, but what one does after realizing that he or she has made a mistake.
4. Few own-up to their mistakes while many will always refuse to take responsibility and instead, blame others. These two postures draw different reactions in my book and I suppose also, in the court of public opinion.
5. Despite the undeniable hurt, ridicule and public condemnation that I and my family suffered within and outside our borders, we take comfort from the realization that the reporter Mr. Caiphas Chimhete, the acting editor Mr. Bill Saidi and Group CEO Mr. Raphael M. Khumalo displayed professional courage to investigate further the truth and upon establishing it, have apologised and admitted that the initial story was false.
6. It was clear that they had been taken for a ride and misled by people who had their own agenda. Most importantly also was the fact that in publishing the story, the team at Standard harboured no malice against me, as they sincerely believed that the story was genuine.
7. The paper and myself further witnessed during the week, attempts by certain people who wanted to again mislead both the paper and publishers with new inventions and/or variations about the same car in an apparent mission to tarnish the Governor by creating a new angle to explain their failure to substantiate the first story.
8. Fortunately for me, I had revealed all the paperwork to do with the car and even invited the Group CEO, the Acting Editor and the Reporter himself to ride in the car concerned, with me behind the wheel.
9. Against this background, I have not found it difficult to forgive the team at the Standard newspaper and life must just go on. No sweat. Furthermore, there will be no legal action to be taken to clear my name as the matter has been dealt with satisfactorily and amicably.
10. There are more pressing issues of national significance to do with the state of our economy that must surely take precedence of occupation than to pursue a mission to settle scores against one another.
11. It was His Excellency the President, Cde. R. G. Mugabe who in one of his State of the Nation addresses observed that: “We are all witnesses to the futility of trying to turn around our economy in an environment of pointless conflict."
12. Indeed what Zimbabwe needs more at this stage than at any other in its development and turnaround is “Healing.” Healing between and among individuals and families alike, healing and tolerance between and among politicians and political parties, between and among different economic, labour and government players, the media, civil society, churches and their leaders, and healing between Zimbabwe and some sections of the international community, including multilateral financial institutions.
13. Only through unity of purpose, forgiveness of one another and the desire and discipline to stand by the truth can we truly move forward.
14. At the personal level, I welcome the existence of multi-media platforms of expression and scrutiny of public officials and their public conduct as this improves accountability and entrenches transparency of that conduct. I am on record, way back, as publicly stating that the media is an indispensable partner in the turnaround of our economy and indeed in the arena of social progress.
15. I welcome criticism of my monetary and economic policies, as well as my public conduct as long as this is done genuinely and in fairness, respecting obviously, my right, as indeed the right of others, to own privacy.
16. Let me take this opportunity also to state that, as with any public official, it is not possible or even desirable that I respond to each and every story written about me, whether in newspapers or on the internet, respond to every rumour or bar talk in the market or speculation directed at me. I take all these in my stride as occupational hazards which come with territory.
17. My silence or non-response to some of these does not however always make these stories gospel truth as some in the market players have been prone to think. The office of the Governor is a very busy one, particularly this Governor. Taking care of an economy with the highest inflation in the world cannot be a walk in the park or an 8 to 5 job.
18. Regarding the Bank’s position on the Standard story, I have spoken to the Board Chairman for Human Resources Mr. Lovemore Chihota and persuaded the Bank’s Board of Directors to consider withdrawing their intention to sue the paper and rather, let the matter lie to rest. The Board has agreed to put the matter to experience, for both the team at the Standard and myself.
19. The same cannot however be said of UK-based, The Zimbabwean newspaper which went beyond the bounds of the initial false story to manufacture their own trinkets to make the story seem authentic and joined previous lies about the fertilizer story into this one. Our lawyers will be getting in touch with them unless they take the honourable route that would protect their integrity and standing in the news-world and do like the team at Standard has done. We await their next Issue to establish their position.
20. I thank all the stakeholders who “saw-through” the offending publication and declared the report “prima-facie false” from the word go because of their confidence in me and the office of the Governor.
21. Indeed if the car-issue was true, I would have been the first one to make a public admission of the fact and would have requested for public forgiveness, but as we all are aware now, it wasn’t true, neither had the thought ever crossed my mind about the need to acquire such an expensive car. I didn’t even know that such a car existed in the world. The speed and cost factors would have made it inappropriate for me, let alone Zimbabwe in the first place.
22. The car that I drive today, an S600 is both personal and within my contractual entitlements and duly approved by the Board.
23. In the same vein, let me add that I have been working for the last 29 years and during that period, I have managed to acquire a number of personal assets in the farming, real estate, stock/financial and other sectors of the economy, all of which were declared to my Principals upon my assumption of Governorship of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe as required by the appropriate Statutes.
24. Some stakeholders think that I only started working at RBZ in 2003 and not being privy to my asset and liabilities statement then, and now being driven by ulterior motives, have seen it fit to portray a false picture of misuse of public funds on what are purely legitimate private and personal acquisitions and investments, some of which are beginning to mature now after a long period of gestation.
25. We must as Zimbabweans, stop pre-judging others probably by our own “way-ward” ways!
DR. G. GONO
GOVERNOR
JOIN
THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
debate@newzimbabwe.com
All material copyright newzimbabwe.com
Material may be published or reproduced in any form with appropriate credit to this website