Posted by Harare — A SOUTHERN African Development Community (Sadc) ministerial team that assessed the implementation of Zimbabwe’s troubled power-sharing arrangement recommended that Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono should be reassigned to save the coalition government from collapse.
The recommendations by the brokers of last year’s Global Political Agreement (GPA) were given to the members of the Sadc troika on politics, defence and security who met in Mozambique on November 5 to deal with the Zimbabwe crisis.
They also set the tone for the negotiations between the three coalition partners, Zanu PF and the two MDC formations due to start this week as directed by the mini Sadc summit.
The ministers from Swaziland, Zambia and Mozambique who met separately with President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and several other stakeholders between October 29 and 30 identified Gono’s continued stay at the RBZ as one of the biggest threats to the unity government.
The ministers said: “The governor of the Reserve Bank should be assigned to another position as a way of conversion.”
Zanu PF had told the assessment team that Gono’s tenure was not an outstanding issue as claimed by the MDC-T because his post was not included in the GPA.
But Sadc heads of state who met in South Africa on January 27 and convinced Tsvangirai to join the inclusive government the following month said Gono and Tomana’s appointments must be reviewed by the new government.
A communiqué issued after the Mozambique meeting said: “The parties should fully comply with the spirit and letter of the GPA and Sadc summit decisions of 27 January 2009.”
One of the negotiators confirmed that Gono’s reassignment would be top on the agenda when the negotiations, which according to a strict Sadc timeline must be concluded by month-end, resume.
“He is not going to be put anywhere near finance, actually he must not even be seen in a tuckshop,” said the source. “He has done his part, let him give others a chance to do the job.”
In a surprising turn of events, Zanu-PF spokesperson Ephraim Masawi said the party was not interested in what will happen to Gono who has been defended by Mugabe on several occasions.
“Gono is just a governor to the RBZ. Whether he goes or stays, it does not affect Zanu-PF,” Masawi said.
“He is not a member of the Zanu-PF central committee. I have been in Zanu PF for a long time and I have never seen him attending any central committee meeting.”
MDC-T spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa said he could not comment on the latest developments.
As a way forward, the Sadc ministers also recommended that Tsvangirai’s status as Prime Minister should be reviewed, with suggestions that he must have direct access to Mugabe.
They also spoke about the need for Sadc and the African Union to campaign for the removal of sanctions against Zimbabwe, for the parties to work together to stop external influence and create an internal mechanism to solve problems.
It has also emerged that Mugabe told the ministers that if “MDC-T does not campaign vigorously for the removal of the sanctions, Zanu PF will not move on the issue of governors.”
This was contrary to commitments by the ageing leader that the parties would share the posts of governors according to their performance in last year’s elections.
He also said MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett would be sworn in once he is cleared of “criminal charges against him”.
On the other hand Tsvangirai said the removal of sanctions was a collective responsibility and that where the parties disagree, a facilitator must be called in.
South African President Jacob Zuma was asked by the Sadc mini-summit to assess the progress towards the fulfilment of the outstanding issues before month-end.
MDC-T also wants the appointment of permanent secretaries to be dealt with while Zanu PF says it wants an end to the regime change agenda by the international community, the closure of pirate radio stations and that MDC-T must close “parallel government structures”.
Statements like this normally come from the childish Chamisa. Why say such foolish statements that sound like they are coming from a child parliamentarian?near a tuckshop!!!!!!
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Yes Gono should not be seen even at Mbare Msika. Those people at Mbare Msika know economics more than Gideon Gono. They know the principles of supply and demand. Gono doesn for if he kew he would’nt have over supplied the market with Zim Kwacha making it useless. There were no sanctions on Zimbabwe to do that. He was simply ligning his pocket charging exchange rates that suit his friends. Now there is nothing to steal.
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gono must go so should tomana, they are done more harm than good to the country. Whoever wrote this article must be commended, lets see now what he will do write another letter to the Prime Minister. abel dofo iri rinonzi gono must go, he provided enough space for zanu officers to loot, and that didn’t help the desperate Zimbabweans cause at all.
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“Gono is just a governor to the RBZ. Whether he goes or stays, it does not affect Zanu-PF,” Masawi said.
^^^^^^
Are they giving up on Gono or it’s one of their tactical retreat?
-Vakuru Chaivo-
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tactical retreats….
-Vakuru Chaivo-
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Good one vakuru chaivo. You are reminding some morons about a statement they said earlier on on this website about retreating.
Zanu pf may be feeding Gono to the sharks so that they say to MDC its now your turn to show commitment and what will MDC do then. Ask foreign lands to close down pirate radio stations? Mumwe achat**** mubako shuwa. They have no power on radio stations and sanctions yet they signed about them in the GPA.Tichaonerera matafura akupindurwa namwari. Robert kanogona kungomuka kabvisa Gono,Tomana and five governors and swear in Bennett as is being requested and says chiitaiwo zvenyu tione and we will see a lot of blinking from MDC.You think you can walk to the Americans and ask them to repeal Zidera? A law is very difficult to repeal in America, its not like Zimbabwe where MPs can discuss over a beer and simply repeal a law. Muchakwata maMDCstas.chuckle!!!!!!!
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Abel dream on. MDC said that Mugabe should allow radio stations to operate freely in Zim in order to kill the black market of these radio stations. So in whose court is the ball? Read GNU my friend it never said MDC-T should remove radio stations. By the way they are not pirate. They are radio stations which are very popular with the masses. Its ZBC which is a pirate radio station. You are just imagining ZANU(PF) scheming things successfully. Not any more. They are in trouble. MDC did not impose sanctions. There is no single evidence to show that MDC-T campaigned for the very good restrictions on ZANU(PF). ZIDERA is an American piece not an MDC-T law so only a fool would dream that MDC would remove laws that they did not ennact. Remember SADC is not governed by Mbeki anymore thats why at all communiques you dont hear them saying MDC should remove sanctions. At best they say the West should help remove sanctions. I actually like them because unlike what you say Abel, these sanctions are not affecting poor Zimbabweans. In which way? It is economic mismanagement which is affecting Zimbabweans. Its not sanctions that caused Mugabe to give his pretenders “war veterans” unbudgeted money. Its not sanctions which caused our army to rush to DRC diamonds and using more than US$10 million per day thus draining the country dry. Its not sanctions which caused the distruction of Agriculture which was the backborne of the country’s foreign currency revenue. Its not sanctions that caused Gideon Gono to buy groceries (tootpaste, soap etc) for dishing out for free under BACCOSSI. What about the tractors and plasm TVs while hospitals and road remained unattended. So the only “sanctions” that affected people is corruption and mismanagement.
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In other words Sheppy you are confirming what I claim, that your leaders are morons who went ahead and signed a document they did not understand. Why did they mention Zidera and Pirate stations which they know are beyond their control? Now Mathibiri is using it against them. Or maybe there are other outstanding issues you are aware of that SADc said existed for the MDC also which I am not aware of besides these two.I dont know why you want to waste time preaching to the choir about plasma TVs tractors and whatever else. We all know that but why does your party fail to take advantage of such Zanu pf corruption?You and I know very well that sanctions are not the ones that caused problems but mismanagement and misplaced priorities, but however the fact is MDC-T signed a document acknowledging these issues and the whole of SADC know that. Yet you seem to still hero worship them when they make such scandalous blunders.Now they waste time chaising their tails with issues like Gono and Tomana which are of no consequence to my grandmother in Njanja there.
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