Employees of Gono are now deserting the former tycoon, who built a fortune speculating on the future of the country's now worthless Zimdollar.
On the professional front, Gono received a major rebuke last week for his reckless policies and activities at the central bank when the High Court ordered the Reserve Bank to return to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority $5 million that the governor clandestinely transferred to Zanu (PF) between September 2008 and March 2009.
Private companies and NGOs whose foreign currency accounts were looted by Gono to fund President Robert Mugabe's death squads during the political tumult of 2008 are also putting pressure on the RBZ to return their funds.
Sleepless nights
However, what would really give Gono sleepless nights are reports of his waning wealth.
“We have been told that we can not go ahead with Gono's projects because there's no more money,” said a dejected employee, who asked not to be named. “Gono used to have so much money that there would be queues of people outside his office as early as 6am waiting to do business with him. Gono himself would be the first to get to work at five and only leave at 11 pm. Most of his time was spent doing personal deals. Now people don't want to see him because he has no more money.”
Among the projects that have failed to take off because of Gono's allegedly precarious financial position is the previously lucrative Thomson Publications magazine and promotions empire as well as Mighty Movies, in which he acquired equity in a swap deal with controversial media mogul Supa Mandiwanzira's ABC Business Communications.
Last year, Gono reportedly sold six percent of his majority stake in The Financial Gazette in exchange for the Mighty Movies shares, with the expectation that government would open up the airwaves and the movie company could acquire a broadcasting licence.
Fuel deals
Failure by the state to open up the airwaves has dealt a severe blow to independent producers such as Mighty Movies who have to scrounge for jobs in a depressed TV ads market. Gono was also expected to publish a daily paper, The Evening Gazette.
According to knowledgeable sources, Gono made a lot of his money as chairman of the much-derided national fuel procurement committee, while he was CEO of CBZ Bank and Mugabe's personal banker. Documents seen by this reporter show that Gono was personally entitled to 40 percent of the invoice sums as commission for sourcing fuel in a hostile environment after most traditional suppliers ditched Zimbabwe for non-payment.
Gono made frequent trips with Mugabe to countries like Libya, Iran, Kuwait and Venezuela scrounging for fuel. Family members who were clinging to Gono are also said to be abandoning him.
In 2009, Larry Gono, son of the governor's late brother Peter, told this reporter that his then-wealthy uncle had no interest in the Go Liner luxury coach business.
Gono, however, owns several farms and is a significant shareholder in several listed and unlisted concerns, mainly through nominees. He also owns the prestigious Chivhu Hotel in first lady Grace Mugabe's home town.
Bag of cash
A former driver to Gono described the RBZ chief as someone who had swum in money, literally.
“Once I was driving the governor on a trip to Kadoma when I asked for permission to see my mother-in-law. The governor opened the huge bag of cash that he always carried. He asked me to look aside and dip my hand into the bag. He said I could take whatever I could hold in one hand and give to my mother in law. It was a lot of money!” said the driver.
Another close aide at the central bank, who has now jumped ship, said RBZ employees had become 'impoverished' as they could no longer dip into the endless tunnel of Zanu (PF) freebies often dished out by Gono. The former bank executive said Gono had told RBZ employees that he would no longer be responsible for the illegal deals that enriched even the lowest central bank employee.
Gono's troubles started when the inclusive government came into being in 2009. New finance minister Tendai Biti called for an audit of the RBZ while the MDC demanded his resignation. Gono's wings have severely been clipped and he has been ordered to stick to his core mandate and not to dish out money to Zanu (PF) officials and entities as in the past.
Post published in: Africa News