ZANU PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa on Monday claimed that Zimbabwe’s gold reserves were taken from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and siphoned out of the country during the tenure of the late President Robert Mugabe.
During a press briefing in Harare, Mutsvangwa said the “transaction” was facilitated by an unnamed retired governor, widely speculated to be Gideon Gono.
According to ZimLive, Mutsvangwa claimed that following the imposition of sanctions on the country by Western powers, the then RBZ governor sought assistance from contacts in the Arab world, who said they could provide US dollars. He said:
We had our gold reserves, then the Americans imposed sanctions, and then we were short of US dollars.
As we were short of US dollars, our Reserve Bank governor then, I won’t mention names, these days I am not mentioning names.
Our Reserve Bank governor engaged outsiders in the Arab world… they said we can give you US dollars but on condition that you support it with your gold.
Mutsvangwa added that an agreement was proposed wherein US dollars would be exchanged for Zimbabwe’s gold reserves.
Under the deal, Zimbabwe’s gold was to be transported from the RBZ’s vaults to a location abroad, allowing the Arab partners to verify the reserves.
Mutsvangwa said while the gold was transferred as per the agreement, the country never received the US dollars as per the agreement. He said:
The story gets murky after that… The gold reserves are gone, and the US dollars don’t come.
Speaking after inspecting the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe gold reserves earlier this month, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that a few months ago he had travelled outside Zimbabwe to inspect the country’s gold reserves held offshore. He said:
Zimbabwe has solid gold in the vaults. In the past, we sold all our gold, and we couldn’t keep money, but now we have solid gold in the vaults.
So, year by year we should have about 1.2 tons of gold in our vaults as well as outside.
A few months ago I went outside, I will not say where, but I went outside where I inspected the gold there and I am satisfied that my officer carried out my instructions correctly.
Earlier this month, Zimbabwe launched a new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG). The central bank said the structured currency will be backed by an equivalent value in precious minerals – mainly gold – or foreign exchange.
