Dr Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ),
released a statement on Monday admitting that the bank took hundreds of
millions in foreign currency from private accounts without either the
permission or the knowledge of the account holders. According to the
statement, the government needed the money in order to fund loans to
state-owned companies and buy grain and energy supplies. According to
Mr Gono: "the unorthodox measures helped keep the country afloat".
Hivos pressuring MDC
Hivos, which is largely dependent on subsidies from the Dutch foreign
affairs ministry, is pressuring contacts within the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) to try and get its money back. Last February,
the MDC joined a unity government with President Robert Mugabe’s
long-governing ZANU-PF party. According to Ms Straatsma:"The MDC is
aware that Zimbabwe needs foreign aid and knows that this situation
cannot continue indefinitely".
Mr Gono promised that the RBZ will repay the money – estimated at 1.5
billion Euros – it took from private bank accounts but he did not say
when it would actually be repaid. Most of the plundered accounts belong
to private companies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as
Hivos. Last year, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and
Malaria said 5.64 million Euros was missing from its bank account in
Zimbabwe. The money has since been returned.
The Zimbabwean government will have to repay almost one billion Euros
to the RBZ before the central bank can itself repay the money
‘borrowed’. However, the government does not yet have that money.
Local NGOs also affected
Apart from Hivos, Dutch aid organisation SNV also has an office in
Zimbabwe. Although SNV’s bank account was not raided, local manager Rik
Overmars says numerous local NGOs had their bank accounts plundered.
SNV is almost completely dependent on Dutch government subsidies.
Ms Straatsma has confirmed that many of Hivos’ local partner
organisations had money taken from their bank accounts. Hivos, in
co-operation with the United Nations development fund, is attempting to
get the money back. Ms Straatsma says the central bank’s ‘move’ has not
jeopardised Hivos’ activities. The aid organisation opened a new bank
account in neighbouring Botswana, and Dutch government subsidy money
was paid into that account.
Governor under pressure
Analysts say Mr Gono’s admission is an attempt to hold on to his job.
In September 2008, just before a coalition accord was agreed with the
MDC, President Robert Mugabe reappointed Mr Gono to a second five-year
term as central bank governor. However, since Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC
joined the unity government in February, there has been considerable
pressure on Mr Gono to resign.
The central bank governor is one of the Mr Mugabe’s close allies and
his policies have been blamed for the severe economic turmoil in the
country. There have been severe food, fuel and cash shortages as well
as hyperinflation. The health, education and agriculture system has
collapsed and the Zimbabwean dollar became next to worthless. The
recent introduction of the US dollar as legal tender has helped bring
prices down and there are some goods in the shops again.
South Africa’s finance ministry is investigating the possibility of
allowing Zimbabwe to use its currency, the Rand, and allowing Harare to
join the South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho monetary union.
Just this week, the new Zimbabwean government called on foreign
companies, and in particular South African companies, to invest in
Zimbabwe. A government spokesman said: "It’s an investment well worth
risking".
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Post published in: News