Is Gono going?

This has given the impression that the new government should deal with (President) Mugabe’s people and institutions before any progress can be made. This view is as false as it is naïve.
Gono’s achievements for Zimbabwe seem to have quickly escaped these Western parrots.
He oversaw the mechanisation of the farms to which a lot of the current MPs and ministers benefitted.
He also devised various short-term strategies, which, though quite unpopular, somehow kept the economy going.
In a country with virtually no money and whose lines of credit were virtually dry, surely this money had to come from somewhere.
In as much as there cannot be any justification for the continuous printing of money, Gono cannot stand accused for that. The mandate to go out of his way to print money had to come from somewhere. This he made clear in Parliament during the questioning time.
In as much as there are mistakes that were made during Gono’s tenure, since all of us are as fallible as he is, I am totally against this idea of believing that Zimbabwe’s credibility among the “donors” will be restored by that. This is roundabout and “kiya-kiya” economics, which fails the test of times. That may as well mean removing everyone at the RBZ including those who were running the printing press, the cleaners and tea boys. No one has actually been making such calls as yet.
However, if the cleaners and tea boys cannot be removed on account they were “under instruction” the same should apply to Gono who was equally under instruction of his principals. This he has made very clear even in Parliament.
The current (global) financial crisis has been justifiably traced to lack of proper regulation during Alan Greenspan’s time (the over respected ex-governor of the United States of America). The evidence is just overwhelming. But no one is pointing a single finger to have him hauled before the courts to answer for the human tragedy that the financial crisis has created in developing countries.
Yet it’s the same developed countries who tell us that Gono should pay for his “sins”. What sins? Whose sins when Alan Greenspan is in retirement getting over US$140 000, per thirty-minute speech?
But let’s revisit this logic that Zimbabwe has to give the governor a boot simply because the West is not happy with him. Lord Malloch Brown (the British Minister for Africa) was reportedly saying that he doesn’t trust Gono to properly handle the cheques. Whose cheques? It should be made clear to people like Malloch Brown that what Zimbabweans need are not cheques but development. Cheques do not equal development. They may as well keep their cheques and we keep our Gono.
What they conveniently ignore is that Gono, like Greenspan operates within the framework and government of the day. He doesn’t determine his own policy. The fact that he was a shining candle during a dark period doesn’t mean he is a threat and has to be extinguished.
What he has done as the candle of the nation, is to simply remind us that there is darkness out there. When day time comes, you blow off the candle, not because it has failed to light the room and make it brighter than the day but because, it has done its job and well enough. This then means that if Gono is to leave, we all owe him a standing ovation, because we appreciate what he did during the “dark” period.
Besides, he came to RBZ boasting significant experience as a turnaround strategist. He then cannot leave before completing his job. If he throws in the towel, it’s these same people who will brand him a failure and a coward.
People should also realise that Gono should stay, for the same reason that the President is staying. For the sake of change and progress for the country. If Gono had become the “Prime Minister” as people purport, then you need this Prime Minister more now than before to help in putting things in place.
In his book, the Casino Economy, Gono notes that USA and Britain had at one point in time enticed him to join World Bank senior management. Let’s ask ourselves-what is it that they had seen in him? Other pessimists may quickly point out that it was part of a grand strategy to undo (President) Mugabe’s government.
But one thing for certain is that the US and their ilk will not seek to appoint someone to such a senior position if they are not worth their salt. This also speaks volumes about Gono’s credibility internationally. Ranting by (Finance Minister Tendai) Biti and his equally gullible and infantile Professor (Arthur) Mutambara, that Gono should be target number one of reforms, etc. is bad politics that borders on immaturity.
Let’s all remember how President Mugabe, in his wisdom, retained a lot of the Rhodesian institutions soon after independence for the sake of continuity. During that time it was even easier and much more popular to grandstand by sidelining the judges and other former Rhodesians, but he rightly judged the need for continuity and inclusion.
So it is important for the MDC not to sacrifice history at the altar of political expediency — it will come to haunt them. What is required from them now, more than before is their ability to make good judgment and this starts with separating people from the problem. Gono is not the problem but can be part of the solution if properly harnessed.
— Reproduced co-urtesy of www. harare times.info