By Staff Reporter

RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, John Mangudya is set to keep his job as central bank chief after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was Thursday said to be still keen on his services.

Presidential spokesperson George Charamba told state media that Mangudya, infamous for introducing the bond note against strong public sentiment in 2016, could after all find himself serving his second term as RBZ chief executive.

“The President is very clear on the Reserve Bank Governor’s tenure and his performance. Not only is he there to stay but the President is about to renew his contract for a second tenure,” Charamba said.

The recent departure of Andrew Ndaamunhu Bvumbe as World Bank Africa Group executive director has set the rumour mill busier with speculation that Mangudya could be seeing the last of his days as the apex bank boss in place of the Zimbabwean expatriate.

Mangudya’s survival at RBZ will be a surprise to many after President Mnangagwa has moved to replace the country’s Finance Minister and his permanent secretary in signs he longed for a fresh start in the country’s much poisoned financial affairs.

The former Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe CEO’s is viewed as too tainted by former President Robert Mugabe’s ruinous policies that saw the central bank become a milking cow for connected individuals.

His integrity as country’s chief banker came under the spotlight two weeks ago when controversial Zanu PF apologist Acie Lumumba, real name Gerald William Mutumanje, took to social media to expose a foreign currency scandal by four RBZ top managers.

Although Lumumba tried to absolve Mangudya from any dirty dealings at his workplace, many were left wondering as to how executives could sustain such a monstrous financial scandal using central bank infrastructure without the knowledge of their boss.