The fire at Gono’s poultry plot consumed property valued at over US$100 000. Among the goods damaged were delicate hatchery equipment and new compressors for hatcheries that were awaiting installation, together with many other valuables.
Gono was in the news this week after he had a public spat with Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere. Kasukuwere, an ex-CIO operative, was said to be furious after Gono vetoed his order to grab foreign banks that had failed to comply with black empowerment laws.
The governor also made the headlines for a damning US State Department cable leaked by the Wikileaks website alleging Gono surreptitiously held several meetings with former US envoy in Harare, Joseph Sullivan. The RBZ chief is said to have emphasised "his friendships with the MDC leadership (growing up with Morgan Tsvangirai, giving Welshman Ncube leave of absence from the University of Zimbabwe [ahead of the 2005 elections – when Gono was US Council chairman] and teaching most of the (MDC) leadership as college students."
Sullivan claims in one of cables that Gono prided himself in being the "go-to-guy" if the West wanted to have any influence in Harare. The US envoy claimed Gono was "manoeuvring on both sides of the fence."
Police are tight-lipped about the fire and say investigations are underway.
Post published in: News