Standard Newspaper stands by Gono Merc story

By Violet Gonda
16 January 2007

The editor of The Standard Newspaper Bill Saidi said his paper still stands by the story alleging that Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono splashed out US$365 000 on a top-of-the range Mercedes Benz. This is despite a statement issued by the board of the RBZ and ZIMOCO, distributors of the car range in Zimbabwe, issuing separate statements that there was no purchase of such a car.

But Saidi said the newspaper got the information from impeccable sources most of whom work at the RBZ. “We have reliable people who have seen the car.”

On Monday the Board of directors of the Reserve Bank issued a statement saying the allegations were “wholly and totally untrue and entirely a creation of the media house and the journalist who wrote the story.” The group resolved to take legal action against the, The Standard, the UK based Zimbabwean newspaper and against the journalist who wrote the story.

Zimoco General Sales Manager Mrs D. Ritson said in a statement: “Zimoco, as the general distributor for Mercedes Benz vehicles in Zimbabwe, has not imported a BRABUS vehicle on behalf of any Zimbabwean customer to date.”

Saidi said the paper spent several days trying get comments from RBZ officials but there was a lot of stonewalling. Saidi claims the RBZ spokesperson said he didn’t know about this purchase but it could have been a personal purchase.

Saidi added: “Which means it might not have gone through ZIMOCO. It might not (have) come through what you call the normal channels.”

According to the paper there was a virtual stampede by the workers at the central bank who tried to rush to the basement of the building when it was reported the new car had been seen there. The paper said senior management staff barred them from entering the basement, fearing that some of them might take photographs.

Saidi told us: “We couldn’t quote anybody because obviously of the dangers of some kind of action against them. But all that information came from people who work at the bank.”

Some commentators say it is possible that the story may have been manufactured by Gono’s enemies and leaked to the press. Analysts say if this is the case it exposes the serious jockeying going on at Zanu PF in the succession battle for Robert Mugabe’s seat.

When asked about this Saidi said it’s a point that cannot be dismissed but the story was checked thoroughly: “It’s not improbable that we could have been the victim of some kind of scam, but what you want to appreciate is that this is not information which you could say is one sourced. There are a number of people. Now it’s impossible that all of them were in a plot. It’s not really something that you could say that half the bank – half the staff at the bank, were in on it? That will really be quite incredible.”

Critics also say even though RBZ has denied the claims the fact that they admit approving the purchase of US$138 000 for an S500 Mercedes Benz for use by Gono, is shocking in a country that is going through a desperate economic crisis.

In a country where there is a critical shortage of foreign currency to buy food and fuel many are shocked that even if Gono bought a cheaper car the “cash strapped” central bank forked out such a large amount for the purchase.