RBZ, Gono scoff at Mutsvangwa accusations

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and its former governor Gideon Gono yesterday dismissed claims by Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa that gold reserves were stolen from the central bank during the late President Robert Mugabe era.

Speaking at a Press conference on Monday, Mutsvangwa said the Arabs stole the country’s gold reserves claiming to pay in the US dollar which never came to Zimbabwe.

“The country needed foreign currency. The Arabs said the condition of buying the gold was that it was supposed to be moved out of the country. The gold reserves were moved out of the country and the money never came in. The gold was stolen and the story gets murkier from there,” he said.

Speaking in Bulawayo yesterday, RBZ governor John Mushayavanhu, said there was no record of a gold heist at the central bank.

“We are not worried by the statements made by people without any evidence, there are no records at the RBZ to suggest that there was any gold that was stolen, I looked at the books and there is nothing like that,” Mushayavanhu said during a Monetary Policy Statement breakfast meeting.

In a response, former RBZ governor Gideon Gono described Mutsvangwa’s claims as "blatant lies" and accused the Zanu PF spokesperson of "wasting time attending to veldfires" while the country has more pressing issues.

“I would advocate that we ask His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa to set up a commission of inquiry in terms of the Commission of Inquiry Act (Chapter 10:07) incorporating all interested parties to look into this serious allegation of perfidious proportions and report to the nation its findings in simpler language than I would have done here,” he said.