Mutumwa Mawere

The formation of the inclusive government brought with it expectations of real and fundamental changes in the manner in which the economy of Zimbabwe is managed.

The appointment of the Minister of Finance from the MDC-T formation was naturally expected to bring a new sense of hope and expectation that Zimbabwe was about to turn a new leaf. Under Gono's first term, the RBZ became a super and over arching institution that essentially crowded out most of the private institutions as well as the cabinet system of government.

While many in government were scared to experiment, Gono proved a master at coming up with one operation after another all with dismal results and yet his principal never lost faith in the misplaced cause.

If one accepts that Zimbabwe was a victim of sanctions, then one can accept why President Mugabe's opinion of Gono will always be favorable. President Mugabe is as much a victim as he may be a villain, in that; his worldview on Zimbabwe's challenges and opportunities; has been largely shaped by the people with access to him.

Gono never hesitated to use power and his propensity to distract attention from the effects of his misguided policies is well documented. The timing of the world economic meltdown was not only convenient but provided a compelling justification for the quasi-fiscal policies that Gono had initiated and implemented with no accountability.

In December 2007, the former Guruve North legislator, Hon. David Butau, fled the country for good cause. He not only knew too much but he was the first high ranking person in ZANU-PF to have created a trap for Gono that could potentially have ended his career and could have changed the history of the country. At the time, there was speculation of a split of ZANU-PF and the emergence of Dr. Makoni as a new political force.

The cash crisis that gripped the country created a new window to begin to question critically Gono's role in undermining the rule of law and property rights. The last thing Gono would have wanted was to have Butau on the loose with potentially damaging information.

Prior to the formation of the inclusive government, no one could dare challenge Gono. On 3 March 2009, Butau who had assumed that the winds of change had touched Zimbabwe and that he could be safe to come back to a Zimbabwe that had accepted the futility of exchange controls and the viability of dollarization, was arrested as a reminder that no change is believable change.

Externalization remains a criminal offence and yet what makes Butau's crime unique is that it was integral part of the RBZ's initiative to access foreign currency using the black market while pretending to the nation that no such market existed but more importantly targeting a select few for criminal prosecution for conduct that the RBZ clandestinely sponsored and financed.

Notwithstanding the change of government, Butau had to endure in remand prison until granted bail last week. The Butau case is significant because it is the first case to be tried under the new inclusive government that has the potential of exposing the true nature of the RBZ's illegal actions.

Butau was alleged to have made a payment of 537,000 pounds to a supplier chosen by the RBZ, Michigan Tractors, under a farm mechanization initiative financed directly by the central bank using private actors to buy foreign exchange in the black market.

Police issued a press statement at the time when Butau fled the country naming him on the "Wanted List" in connection with exchange control violations. As background, the allegations against Butau arose from a transaction that was initiated by Mr. Joseph Manjoro, a finance and administration executive with Clarion Insurance who was contracted by Flatwater Investments to source foreign currency from individuals like Butau to procure tractors on behalf of the RBZ.

Butau claims that he agreed to be involved in the transaction because he wanted positive proof of the RBZ's involvement in transactions that it deemed to be illegal and for which many businesspersons were persecuted and exiled for.

Butau's designated Zimbabwean companies received the Zimbabwean dollar equivalent from funds provided by the RBZ. It would be interesting to see whether the new Minister of Finance will intervene in the matter to help shed light on the opaque operations of the RBZ.

To the extent that the RBZ was instrumental in violating the rules that it purported to enforce, it is important that a Commission of Inquiry be set up to establish the full extent of the operations of the RBZ and the identity of the individuals in the food chain of illegality.

As would be expected, the former head of the RBZ's Farm Mechanisation program, Pastor Elias Musakwa, was arrested so was Mr. Tichafa Matambanadzo on allegations of defrauding the RBZ. Allegations are that Tich was contracted by the RBZ to provide hampers for the BACOSSI program (Basic Commodities Supply Side Intervention) but failed to deliver after taking payment.

The facts of the matter are that Tich is a director of a company, Family Choice (Subvented Solutions), a company that was involved in the supply of foodstuffs. On 3 November 2009, the company was contracted by the RBZ to supply food hampers for which an advance payment was made by the RBZ. When the company failed to supply, the RBZ as has now been customary reported the matter to the police rather than approaching the Court as a civil matter.

If Tich had known that being a director of a company involved in business transactions with the RBZ can result in criminal proceedings, I have no doubt that he would have chosen to do something else. However, under Gono doing business with the state effectively removes the corporate veil, as the police have no need to respect the juristic personality of companies.

It is clear that nothing much has changed in Zimbabwe. The Tich case highlights the need for the inclusive government to begin to put the house in order.

Surely, it cannot be acceptable to target a director of a company in his personal capacity in criminal proceedings involving the affairs of a company without first confirming that the targeted director was involved in siphoning funds from the company illegally.

Zimbabwe's future can only be secure when state institutions become accountable and law abiding.