Published by the government of Zimbabwe
21 May 2009
(Page 2 of 2)
Even in the then ruling party circles, jealousy and envy began to mount with whispers and murmuring that the Governor had assumed too much power, effectively rendering himself de facto Prime Minister.
His wings had to be clipped.
Meanwhile for the political opposition, the MDC-T and the MDC, Gono had become fair game.
Attacks on him were to be without scruples.
In the run-up to the March 2008 presidential and general elections in Zimbabwe, Gono's nemesis and current boss as Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, the powerful MDC-T secretary general went overboard. He disparaged and branded Gono outrageously as an "economic saboteur, terrorist and number one Al-Qaeda who deserves to be shot by a firing squad".
Biti figured that Gono was at the "epicentre of the Zanu-PF terror machine".
These accusations are not however simply hate speech or politicking on the campaign trail.
They have stuck on Gono and affected his family.
More than that they form the basis of current demands by MDC-T and MDC that Gono must go for the economy to thrive.
To industrialist and entrepreneur, Aguy Georgias, "nothing could be further from the truth".
Georgias, the Trinity Engineering boss, who is also a senator and Deputy Minister of Works in the inclusive Government and an indefatigable campaigner against the sanctions on Zimbabwe, sees no merit on the attacks on Gono.
Says Georgias: "I am a part of the inclusive Government. For me to engage in an attack on any member of the same Government is not only self-deprecating but also unwise in the extreme.
"What the nation expects is to see us chart a new way forward in as amiable a manner as is possible.
"All our differences can be resolved amicably, without acrimony and vindictiveness. The attacks on Dr Gono are illogical and sickening.
"Our focus now ought not to be on drawing swords against one another. "We have STERP to direct our energies at. In my reading there is complementary resonance, if not congruency in Gono's monetary policy statements and STERP to the point where one wonders where the differences are coming from?"
Senator Georgias is of the view that "whatever the Governor did or initiated, to my mind was inspired by a desire to achieve our collective survival against such a ferocious and vicious attack by the big powers".
"If we do nothing to remove and end the senseless and improper attacks on President Mugabe, for example, the 'bad-boy' stigmatisation of Zimbabwe will stick with us for a long time to come. We have to actively pursue, as a nation, perception improvement strategies through a media and publicity campaign," he contends.
It however appears that known political interests will continue to pursue Gono.
The Governor has thus been caught up in a beneath-the-surface contest for power for only trying hard to do the right thing for his country and nation.
In retrospect, we all fell over each other's feet to celebrate the rather startling and iconic achievements of the Governor through, as scholar and writer Ken Mufuka put it, "original thinking".
It is, therefore, crystal clear to all fair-minded and right thinking Zimbabweans that the pursuit and sustained attack and persecution of Dr Gono by his detractors is less influenced by objectivity as by self-interest, ambition, ego and political interest of "significant others".
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Watidama;
Who should be blamed if one fails because somebody is following behind and destroying whatever one is building? Tsvangirai and Biti called and campaigned for sanctions that Dr Gono was fighting against. MDC single handedly made sure that all the plans, policies and strategies that Dr Gono, on behalf of government, adopted and put in place did not succeed.
Who then should be blamed for “killing” not only the economy but the people of Zimbabwe as well? MDC should be held responsible for our failure to move forward for the past 10 years.
As Dr Gono outlined and rightly put it, and I hasten to add; those who called for sanctions, those who helped draft ZDERA and lobbied the American Congress and those who sold out to imperialists should be held solely responsible for the condition of our economy and the plight of the people of Zimbabwe today.
Watidama - whilst I agree fully with you that Gono should be sacked for being simply incompetent; I must disagree with that the push to get rid of him has nothing to do with politics. In fact Gono is crucial to the very existence of zanu-pf whilst the GNU is in existence.
For the past 29 years, the Zimbabwean taxpayer and the nation of Zimbabwe has been financially supporting zanu-pf. The ease with which Mugabe has been able to treat the country as his personal fiefdom has meant that zanu-pf has grown very fat and very lazy and has no means of raising money other than through political patronage. Gono has been the key mechanism of Mugabe's wholesale theft of national assets. Mugabe desperately needs Gono to stay in place so that he can divert what forex gets into the hands of the RBZ towards his boss and the rest of the kleptocracy. Were a MDC governor to take over the RBZ, zanu-pf would find itself trying to secure its finances from its grass roots supporters and the result would be the inevitable death of the party. This is why firstly, foreign donors will not channel their funds through the RBZ and secondly, why MDC are prepared to make a big deal of this matter.
I think that if the MDC were successful in getting their man into the RBZ Governor's seat, Mugabe would have no choice but to dissolve the GNU and rule by decree. The alternative would be an inevitable death of zanu-pf.
Gono and all the other Zanugoon parasites will insure that Zimbabwe remains ruined
Why does the two individuals who seem to be dragging the refromation of our country back putting sticks in their ears? The solution is very simple indeed, RESIGN!! Gono newe Tomana please save our beloved country just resign period!
Chitsidzo;
You are not serious when you call on Dr Gono to resign. How can he resign at a time when he is needed most? After standing up to the mighty powers of the imperialist world, Gono cannot now resign simply because little Biti and Chitsidzo want it that way. While it is true that the likes of Biti are being used by imperialists to attack Dr Gono and assassinate his character, there is no room for surrendering nor is there any room for complacence at this juncture.
Through his noble and visionary policies, Dr Gono made sure that the economy of Zimbabwe did not collapse under the weight of sanctions campaigned for by Biti, Tsvangirai and the whole MDC establishment. After weathering the storm of the CIA and MI6 wanting to get rid of the man behind Zimbabwe's ability to stand up to their aggression, Gono cannot now abandon ship when he should be directing it as he is the compass and captain of the Zimbabwean ship.
Many bad things, bordering on assassinating you character and demonizing you, will be said and threats will fly all over you but just ignore anything of that sort and remain focused. Forward EVER, backward NEVER!!!
Dr Gono has already proved his indispensability by authoring STERP. Biti just plagiarized from the works of Dr Gono. I therefore urge Dr Gono to remain resolute in his fight against these saboteurs and sellouts – we are behind you all the way. You have done nothing wrong Doctor. If anything you did Zimbabwe proud by standing up to the most powerful terrorists in the world - the imperialists and their running dogs in MDC.
You cannot now think, let alone dream of resigning when we are getting to the top of the mountain. You actually deserve a medal for all that you have done and will do from now on but that medal is dependent on whether you remain resolute and refuse to be intimidated by agents of imperialism.
Agents of imperialism are angels of Satan; they will NEVER leave you alone. They will always find faults in whatever you do. So the attacks you have to endure should actually strengthen your resolve to continue fighting until final victory is achieved.
Remain persistent and consistent as you have done for the past 5 years or so. You should persevere as this is the hardest part of the battle - this is the final phase of the battle. Aluta Continua!!!
Cde Ndebvu - "Through his noble and visionary policies, Dr Gono made sure that the economy of Zimbabwe did not collapse under the weight of sanctions..." Can you name one single "noble and visionary policy" of Dr Gono's that has succeeded in the long run?
Cde Ndebvu - no? I didn't think that you could. You're all rhetoric and no substance.
See all comments (25).
The Gono issue is not about politics at all. It is about a man given a job or mandate to perform then fails to produce results. And we all know if you fail to produce results you are fired. Thats all. Nobody is politicising anything here.
He failed to rescue the sinking ship. Kutaurisa and delivering results are diffrent things here. If he wants to stay on the job, first he should get evaluated for the past term. Everyone in private sector knows this concept, why should the Gono issue become political if we are looking at the same concept.