Gono slams MPs over refusal to hear list of corrupt Mugabe cronies

Gono slams MPs over refusal to hear list of corrupt Mugabe cronies

GONO

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ZIMBABWE’S central bank chief has expressed dismay at a parliamentary committee's apparent reluctance to have him name top government officials who are hoarding cash.

"Why are they shying away from their responsibility? What have they got to hide?" Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon Gono asked.

Announcing the scrapping of a top-denomination banknote in a bid to outwit cash hoarders, Gono said Wednesday he would be happy to name so-called cash barons before a parliamentary portfolio committee on budget and finance.

“It's true I know three quarters of those politicians involved in illegal activities. If challenged in circumstances that do not lend me in conflict with my ethics, I could tell the nation now”, Gono said in a TV broadcast, before throwing a challenge to MPs to invite him to parliament.

He added: "I would be happy to name these people before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget and Finance. If they (Parliamentary Committee) have the guts, they can call me tomorrow, anytime, whether it is 6am, 12 noon or midnight and I would be happy to share with them and the nation. Let them call me and I will name these guys in the presence of the media.

"This governor will not be intimidated. I have the full support of my principal (President Mugabe). This time there are no roadblocks. We are saying to cash barons come with your sack or trunk of money and we will talk. There is every reason for them to be very afraid.”

But the head of the committee, ruling Zanu PF party MP, David Butau, said later that the body was not in a hurry to speak to Gono on the issue.

"The committee is going to look at the statement clause by clause. Once we come with a list of queries, we will then decide whether to invite the governor," Butau said. "We will also follow the Parliamentary Standing Orders and Guidelines to decide whether it warrants invitation.”
Gono has clearly been irked by Butau's response.

In other jurisdictions a governor prepared to speak out would have been welcomed by the responsible parliamentary committee, Gono said.

Gono blamed the “cash barons” for the biting shortages of cash that are making life hard for millions of Zimbabweans. For the past month, long queues outside banks have been seen across Zimbabwe as customers wait to withdraw often only paltry sums.

The central bank chief said he was withdrawing the $200,000 Zimbabwe note (officially worth US$6 dollars but worth only a few cents on the widely-used parallel market) because it was the banknote most favoured by businesspeople and government officials involved in hoarding.

A set of three new banknotes unveiled by the bank chief on Wednesday is slowly trickling into the market. The new notes are worth $250,000, $500,000 and $750,000 -- not one of them enough to buy a single loaf of bread.
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