The GG Saga Continues

Last week I lunched with some VIP’s who are ‘in the know’ with what goes on – and used to go on in Zimbabwe. I was told by one that GG used to have a large steel trunk in his office at the top of the RBZ where he would distribute USD to whoever was important enough to get passed his door, in whatever amounts were required. No records were kept of any of the transactions. This was made all the more simple because the RBZ controls the Zimbabwe Dollar printing press. The press would print large numbers of large denomination ZWD notes. Then there was a ‘second run’ where duplicate numbered notes were printed, and there was consequently no need to account for them at all.

These notes – the duplicates – were provided to the RBZ runners who fanned out to all ‘exchange centres’ at places like the bus terminus in Harare and Victoria Falls parking lot across the border from Zambia with bucket fulls of Zimbabwe dollars. They returned with briefcases full of USD which were handed over to GG to distribute as and when and to whom he felt like it.

On Saturday I was told by an NVIP (Not Very Important Person) that GG was on his bike. Then on Monday our octogenarian leader told the mourners at GG’s brother’s funeral that GG would serve out his term to 2013, that he was not a thief and he should not be branded as such. (What else do you call a person who takes money out of other people’s bank accounts and admits to doing it, I wonder?)

So GG’s future and the future of ordinary Zimbabweans is in the balance and on the basis of ‘who has the power’ it’s unlikely that he will go soon. My guess is that GG knows too much. There are probably only about two ways to keep his mouth shut.