A source at the Reserve Bank, who asked not to be named, said there was
a real possibility that, for each note with an officially recorded
number on the face of the money, a second exact copy may have been
handed to ZANU-PF.
The RBZ official said that he and several of his colleagues had
recently been questioned over the allegations, but that, to the best of
his knowledge, hard evidence had yet to surface in Harare.
It is certainly possible, he said. The team heading the bank had
total control of the process, so they would have been able to produce
several versions of each Zimbabwe dollar note.
Separate reports have spoken of truckloads of money being delivered to
the army, CIO, youth militia and ZANU-PF headquarters. There are also
documented cases of senior party members swapping Zimbabwe dollars for
foreign exchange on the black market.
Tom Crompton, a bank-note collector based near Chicago in the USA, said that the practice of dual printing was not unknown.
This happened in Zare when former president Mobuto Sese Seko needed
private funds, Mr. Crompton said. Currency would be printed for
release into the economy, and another set with the same serial numbers
was created to keep his soldiers and supporters on side.
Mr Crompton said that the system had occured in a number of failed states.
Sometimes a government doesn't care and just takes the money, he
said. Others want a facade of legality, so they keep rigorous accounts
at the printing office, showing exactly what serial numbers were used.
Then they produce an identical set, with the same numbers.
He said that rapid devaluation meant that notes were not in circulation
for long before they became worthless and less likely to be traced.
People don't check serial numbers on the cash in their pockets, but
for collectors this is gold, he said. Two banknotes with the same
serial number will sell for a premium. I don't collect Zimbabwe, but
stories and photos have been circulating.
Last week, finance minister Tendai Biti suspended any further printing of local currency.
Post published in: Agriculture