Lee Johns, an Australian businessman who has lived in Zimbabwe for over 12 years, was deported last month after winning a US$1 million claim against the Reserve Bank for unpaid rentals. In an exclusive interview on our Behind the Headlines program, Johns told us he was arrested on the same day the High Court granted him an interdict against the bank. His Kwekwe company, Consolidated Gold Mines, had an agreement to rent out the Globe and Phoenix Mine to a Reserve Bank subsidiary, Carslone. Apparently the bank failed to make a profit during this venture and after paying rentals for 2 years, they stopped paying anything in the third year. This prompted Johns to sue in the High Court.

In a classic example of why the MDC want Gideon Gono removed from the central bank, Johns was set upon using the entire might of the state security machinery. The Central Intelligence Organization, the Criminal Investigations Department (Minerals Section) and the Immigration Department all ganged up to deal with him. On the day of his court victory he was abducted from Kwekwe and driven to Harare. To prevent his colleagues and lawyers from knowing where he was they shuffled him from prison to prison for a total of 7 days. On one of these days a dramatic car chase in Harare ensued after his friends briefly spotted him being driven by his abductors. They gave chase but eventually gave up in the end.

A fast-tracked court process eventually rubber stamped his deportation. This was done by revoking his residency permit on the pretext he had violated its conditions by taking up employment elsewhere. Johns called this ‘scraping the bottom of the barrel’ because it was not a form of employment as all he did was appoint himself director in a company he already owned. Johns also had approval for the registration of this company from the Zimbabwe Investment Centre. Even though his lawyers appealed the court decision he was escorted to the Harare International Airport and forced onto a plane to South Africa. The manner of the deportation was similar to that of journalist Andrew Meldrum, who in May 2003 was kicked out by the Mugabe regime on political grounds.

Now currently in South Africa where he intends to fight his corner, Johns told us Zimbabwe was his home and he had no intention of going anywhere. He says his lawyers are still fighting in the courts to have the matter resolved but they have since suffered a reversal, with the High Court being forced into a virtual u-turn on the matter. The Reserve Bank owned company continues to mine gold in Kwekwe, despite the lease with Johns’ company having expired in February this year. Not only that - they still owe him over a US$1 million in unpaid rentals, which they are trying to avoid paying by keeping him out of the country.

It is this sort of thuggery that has thrust Gono into the limelight. Dozens of businessmen were forced into exile after he began what he termed a clean up operation in the banking sector. Most were accused of ‘externalizing’ foreign currency and arrested by police at Gono’s instigation. Former Guruve North MP David Butau was one of those implicated by Gono and was forced to flee to the UK for sanctuary. When he came back into the country last month he was acquitted by the courts. Butau had previously tried to get parliament to investigate Gono’s conduct at the RBZ and paid heavily for this move. Finance Minister Tendai Biti is also trying to get Gono probed, but the ZANU PF machine, backed by senior army officers, is blocking this.