RBZ Splashes Billions on Court Victory Celebration
2010 07 05
http://www.phonienews.com/7081/rbz-splashes-billions-on-court-victory-celebration/
Monday, July 5th, 2010
[ As published on the official website: www.ZimEye.com ]
By Thulani Mpofu
BULAWAYO
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor,
Gideon Gono has splashed billions in public funds on advertisements in national newspapers to celebrate a recent court ruling which absolved the central bank in a foreign currency case.
The central bank published a 16 page full colour supplement last Friday titled “When facts are clear, justice will always prevail — RBZ cleared of wrongdoing in Flatwater case,”.
The supplement featured no fewer than 20 newspaper cuttings of stories that originally accused the apex bank of being involved in shady foreign currency dealings.
An advertising executive at Chronicle, one of Zimpapers titles said the daily newspaper earned billion, while The Herald, whose advertising tariffs are higher made around billion from the advertorials.
“The RBZ is our cash-cow,” said the executive, on condition of anonymity.
“They give us advertisements from monetary policy statements, programmes like the farm mechanisation schemes to other general communications with its publics. But sometimes you wonder why a whole RBZ would place self-gratification adverts like this one,” he said.
He added, ”We need advertising revenue yes, but sometimes you ask yourself whether public funds are not being abused.”
The total figure spent in US dollars terms in Herald and Chronicle publications sums up to an estimated USD10 000 on the parallel market rate excluding supplements that were published in other weekly newspapers that could baloon the cost.
The high profile court case was sparked by last month’s arrest of Nigel Marozhe and Tazviwana Chivaviro, directors of Flatwater Investments who are linked to Zanu -PF legislator, David Butau who fled to the UK last December after it emerged that police were about to arrest him for alleged illicit foreign currency deals.
Facts presented in court are that Flatwater was last year given , 1 trillion by the RBZ to finance the importation of 102 tractors from Michigan Tractors of South Africa under the government-funded Farm Mechanisation Programme on the understanding that the company had its own foreign currency in offshore accounts.
However, it turned out that Flatwater did not have the forex, thus went on to illegally buy the hard currency on the black market in Harare and Bulawayo using several runners, including Butau.
RBZ brags over court ruling
On the first page, Gono gloats over the ruling by Harare provincial magistrate, Mishrod Guvamombe, and accuses unnamed high profile Zimbabweans of pursuing an adversarial agenda against him and the RBZ.
On page three of the advertorial he splashes cuttings of stories published in The Herald and Chronicle in which Guvamombe handed down the judgment.
Subsequent pages feature cuttings on the court case and other writings from local and online publications, accusing the RBZ of complicity in the shady foreign currency deals.
“The case where some people sought to divert attention from the main issue of illegal foreign currency dealings,” said Gono, “it became clear that the Reserve Bank as the complainant was now being attacked and persecuted, by some highly-placed people in positions of authority and influence, calling for the arrest of the governor and his officials.
This, the RBZ saw as a grand cover-up operation to divert the public, and convert attention from the real facts, culprits and issues on the ground.”
Butau is closely linked to Retired General Solomon Mujuru, who has clashed with Gono on several occasions.
The Guruve North Zanu -PF legislator is now involved in a war of words with Gono from London and accuses the latter of seeking to settle old scores against him.
Analysts say by accusing “highly-placed people in positions of authority and influence” who sought his arrest to “convert attention from the real facts and culprits” Gono could be referring to Mujuru and his other perceived foes.
Initially, on January 4, a Harare prosecutor, Tawanda Zvekare who was handling the case, accused the RBZ of irregularly channeling the , 1 trillion to Flatwater adding that the money was not being accounted for.
“I find it incredulous that a whole central bank of a country would release trillions to a company on the strength of a mere letter, which was not verified.
This smacks of conspiracy between the central bank and the company to steal all this money,” charged Zvekare.
Magistrate disputes prosecutor
On handing down his judgment on Monday last week, magistrate Guvamombe, absolved the RBZ of secretly releasing the , 1 trillion to Flatwater, which was believed to be an undeserving shelf company.
Nevertheless, he convicted Flatwater directors, Marozhe and Chivaviro of illegally buying foreign currency on the black market.
Guvamombe fined them 0 billion each and Flatwater 0 billion for the crime.
He disputed Zvekare’s suggestion for Gono to be arrested for alleged complicity in the Flatwater case and also ordered the company’s directors to pay 5 restitution to the central bank.
Guvamombe said documentary evidence brought to the court by both the RBZ and Flatwater showed that the company was properly registered but only compromised itself “by roping in dubious characters like Butau and others to source foreign currency.” – www.ZimEye.com
By Thulani Mpofu, ZimEye Business Editor, reporting from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
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