By Denford Magora
Today (Thursday) Zimbabwe was flooded with SMS messages claiming that Gideon Gono, the powerful Zimbabwean Central Bank Governor had been in an accident and died.
But a call to my sources at the Reserve Bank only confirmed that the Governor had indeed been in an accident on the road from Chiredzi. According to my sources, as far as they know, Gono did not die in the accident.
Local television news tonight also reported that Gono has not died and is alive and well. He was at work today, according to the news.
The bit about him being at work is rather doubtful because the Governor was indeed in a car accident and was not shown on TV speaking for himself, which is chance he would not have missed, knowing him.
Gono is also known as Mugabe’s personal banker and was at one time perhaps the second most powerful central banker in the world after Alan Greenspan, whose word could move the New York Stock Exchange up and down almost at will.
At the height of his powers, Gono was effectively the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, with the power to reduce mere ministers to tears. There was so much animosity towards him that Mugabe posted his own armed and uniformed guards on the pavement outside the Central Bank building on Samora Machel Avenue in Harare. He moved with a mini-motorcade of three cars filled with guards back then.
This was before the advent of the Unity Government of Mugabe and Tsvangirai. The armed soldiers have now gone from the pavement but Gono is still guarded by armed officers in his own office.
The messages circulating today may well be just the rumour capital of the world (as Mugabe called Harare) doing its thing. More likely though, it is all about the residual animosity towards the Governor showing in this wishful thinking.
So, ignore the SMS messages and the online newspapers. The truth of the matter is that Gono has actually not died and has just been on an accident, which my sources at the Reserve Bank actually confirm.
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