Reviving Zimbabwe Dollar Suicidal

Against a backdrop of a visibly wobbling Inclusive Government, there are serious political and economic ramifications associated with the premature de-dollarization of the Zimbabwean economy. An impromptu return to the recently-condemned Zimbabwe dollar can only be politically-motivated especially considering that its ardent protagonist, President Robert Mugabe, is suddenly clamoring for its return only five months after its official adoption.

Simply defined, de-dollarization is the reversal of dollarization, implying the return to use of a country’s local currency. In the case of Zimbabwe, it means abandoning the official use of the US dollar in favor of the once-condemned Zimbabwe dollar.

Instead of dealing with the underlying problems facing the economy, Zimbabwe’s politicians in favor of de-dollarization seem to be implying that dollarization is the issue. The people of Zimbabwe also know that their local currency was a constant source of pain and stress given its worthlessness and inaccessibility. Remember the winding queues that existed everywhere. Zimbabwe’s politicians never shied away from telling the suffering ordinary men and women that keeping the Zimbabwe dollar was the ‘sovereign’ thing to do.

At the same time Zimbabwe became a tale of two cities: those enmeshed in royalty and those condemned to abject poverty while the middle-class was completely wiped out. I have no doubt that Zimbabwe has one of the highest ‘Per Capita Benz” in the world because of the past regime’s policies. To the discerning, there was obviously a short-circuit somewhere. Wait a minute, the politicians and the connected became richer because of their ‘hard work’, so they told us, yet the poor became poorer because of sanctions. How hypocritical!

It is abundantly evident that Mugabe is trying to push a dubious agenda that has nothing to do with any economic reality. For instance, Mugabe deliberately has it exactly the opposite when he recently said, “Yes, prices may have gone down but the people should have the money,” and that “If they don’t have the money, how will they buy the goods? We can’t run a country like that. We are considering changing that and reverting to our own currency.”

In other words he is saying let’s print the money and figure out what to do with it. Doesn’t it start with production and then consumption? (Pardon my elementary economics here). Mugabe’s obsession with consumerism is worrisome. The underlying economic fundamentals have to be addressed first, Mr President!

De-dollarization of the Zimbabwean economy could be a slap in the face of reformists as it is the last thing the country needs at the moment. Could that be the reason Mugabe and his men are so vehemently opposed to Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono’s removal as his appointment was done in violation of the terms of the Global Political Agreement? Who else can satisfy the job requirements for a vacancy that ‘has arisen’ requiring a “dedicated Reserve Bank Governor with several years of experience directing operations and management of printing money at a national level?”

It is therefore not unthinkable that the return of the Zimbabwe dollar is certainly politically expedient. The overarching strategic objective is to enable themselves (Mugabe and his men) to print money that will be used to fund ‘military’ and other clandestine operations by dreaded state agents that will ‘condition’ citizens into voting for Zanu PF given the impending new elections under a ‘new constitution’.

The dollarization that occurred in January 2009 in Zimbabwe means that Gideon Gono, a not-so-credible policymaker,  is as good as unemployed at the moment because the traditional roles of a central bank chief to administer monetary policy and any form of exchange rate regime are relinquished. I can understand Mugabe and Gono’s frustrations and consequent political belligerence.

As noted in my previous articles, chaos means everything to Mugabe and his men. Economic and political instability allow for profiteering, torture, intimidation and obliteration of perceived enemies of Mugabe. No one is accountable for those heinous crimes as we saw in 2008 when hundreds of Zimbabweans perished under the ‘capable’ hands of the dictatorship especially during the period surrounding the stolen elections. Money printed by Gono funded previous violent campaigns. What will be the exception this time around if they are allowed to revive the dollar? It is no coincidence that Mugabe is calling for the revival of the Zimbabwe dollar.

For that to happen, Mugabe and his Zanu PF ‘comrades’ have to immediately enflame political tensions so that their differences will become irreconcilable and then pronounce the current marriage of convenience with MDC unsalvageable. If elections are going to be held in eighteen months, an oft-floated time frame as per GPA terms, it is clear that Zanu PF’s plot must begin to thicken otherwise they are behind schedule. It works for them if Zimbabwe slips into becoming a lawlessness nation once again.

What research or studies have they conducted which show that the people of Zimbabwe would rather prefer a return of the Zimbabwe dollar? It is all about them and not the people of Zimbabwe. Dollarization has caused Zimbabwe to experience negative inflation and an abundant supply of the once-scarce basic commodities (notwithstanding the academic debate surrounding deflation). Stores and supermarkets are overflowing with all sorts of products at the consumer’s disposal, a rare phenomenon for so many years under the ever-mutating Zimbabwe dollar’s protracted existence.

If it were not for extenuating political circumstances that Zimbabwe finds itself in, I would have advocated for partial dollarization where simultaneously, foreign currency is legal tender alongside the Zimbabwe dollar. I would also prefer a dollarization that uses South African Rand instead of the US dollar for obvious reasons such as easy accessibility of the Rand. In any case, for close to a decade, Zimbabwe has always been the unofficial Province of South Africa, highly integrated into it. One wonders why Zimbabwe has not pushed hard to be part of rand monetary union.

Dollarization of the Zimbabwe is a necessary confidence-building stimulus to the international community of investors who were leery of investing in a hyperinflationary economy of Zimbabwe, whose inflation record secured Zimbabwe’s entry into the Guinness Book of Records.  Dollarization has already paved way for easier integration of the Zimbabwean economy into the global marketplace as more countries are opening lines of credit for Zimbabwe while investors are lining up to cease business opportunities in Zimbabwe.

In 2007, Guinness Book of Records had Zimbabwe listed in ‘every category’  including being the country with  the “most worthless currency, world’s highest inflation, Mugabe voted into top three Dictators… stunning, see how he wiped out an entire commercial farming system in SIX years, now the place is a basket case instead of a bread basket. It goes on and on”, noted Lord Pint, press secretary of Guinness Book of Records.

Outside of dollarization there is no viable alternative for Zimbabwe to accelerate its economic regeneration and sustained economic growth. The return of the Zimbabwe dollar, an anathema to the reform agenda, will certainly signify a return to economic and political instability much to the benefit of yesteryear’s plunderers. The people of Zimbabwe have been taken for a ride for too long! Again we call upon Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his camp of progressives to proactively lead in stirring popular anger and resistance against Mugabe’s machinations.

“Zimbabwe PM Tsvangirai Catching a Falling Knife”

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s world tour that sought to financially reintegrate Zimbabwe into the international community finally came to a close last week. Whether the mission was successful or not depends on your political persuasion per se. While the Prime Minister carefully nuanced positions on the status of the Inclusive Government in Zimbabwe and what the future might (positively) hold, the facts on the ground indicate a disturbing pattern. To the informed, there is no disagreement that the perfidious game of political correctness which is now threatening to diminish the PM’s political capital has just begun. For the new PM, this is not the most enviable of times ‘to be king’.

Contrary to many critics, it must be noted that it was indeed a successful trip. It could have been more successful if Zanu PF had stopped undercutting the PM’s mission by inciting more farm invasions, wanton arrest of lawyers and journalists as well as engaging in all sorts of vituperation of the West. Those who celebrate the booing of PM Tsvangirai also forgot to tell us that the “Mugabe Must Go” sloganeering was even more rapturous and enduring at that venue.

Inside Zanu PF there is an embittered lunatic fringe that is eternally opposed to the inclusive government and all forms of progressiveness. These die-hards are hard-wired to think that whatever US or UK says is tantamount to imperial hubris. They will never learn that it is not ‘cool’ to spit into the wind  or to lie to your doctor.

More conspicuously, Zanu PF’s handyman, Jonathan Moyo again opened a new chapter speaking contemptuously of the Prime Minister branding him a ‘slave’ because President Obama had graciously welcomed him at the White House. To this present day, no other man is as skilled as Jonathan Moyo at doing Zanu PF’s odd jobs. Remember his first odd job as the architect and director of the “Yes Campaign” of a fraudulently re-written Constitution of 2000, resoundingly defeated by the people of Zimbabwe. For some reason that got him promoted to the Ministry of Information.

It was the same Jonathan Moyo, who told a pack of lies profusely and shamelessly when he was Mugabe’s Minister of (mis)information. He publicly told the nation that he considered the  Daily News to be a national security threat that needed to be dealt with “once and for all” a day before the newspaper’s printing press was savagely bombed  on January 28, 2001.

On one hand Mugabe is begging while on the other he is brazenly promoting violence and lawlessness as his lieutenants wantonly locked up innocents, mainly from the opposition MDC and harassing journalists. While the PM is working hard to rebuild burnt bridges and alliances, Mugabe is busy wining and dining with dictators such as Omar al Bashir who massacred hundreds of thousands of black Africans in Sudan. There is a disconnect between begging and arrogance. Then they complain that PM Tsvangirai’s mission was a disaster. It is an uphill task for PM Tsvangirai especially given Mugabe’s double standards.

What is there to contest when the PM says “”We have a real chance to turn Zimbabwe into a success story in partnership with the international community”? The tribal thinking purveyed by Mugabe and his ideologues that Zimbabwe was somehow going to survive as a pariah state, was primitive, destructive and became the quickest road to economic hell. Jonathan Moyo underscored that mentality when he recently said “We are entitled to elect nincompoops and suffer them for the duration of their tenure.” Zanu PF nincompoops were never elected, they imposed themselves on us!

In addition, the so-called war veterans are still on the rampage, roving and raiding in search of plunder mostly sponsored by Mugabe and his men. Most of those “war veterans,” are nothing more than a bunch of rented thugs, unemployed (unemployable, to be precise!) and too young to have fought in the liberation war that ended nearly 30 years ago, most of them were not even born! In any case who cares about useless war credentials, even though most of them are concocted.  We are for democracy and economic prosperity. 

What we are seeing in Zimbabwe at the moment is the epitome of chaos theory of politics. We hear Gono must go by MDC vs Gono ain’t going nowhere by Mugabe, Mugabe for Kariba Draft  Constitution vs Tsvangirai rejects Kariba Draft Constitution, no more farm invasions vs more farm invasions, US dollar here to stay by Tsvangirai vs Mugabe urges return of Zimbabwe dollar, rule of law restored vs journalists and activists arrested , Attorney General to formally charge Biti with treason (again), MDC Director General still locked up, Tsvangirai is Mugabe’s puppet vs I am not Mugabe’s puppet, by Tsvangirai,  the litany of dichotomies goes on and on. The rhetoric has also been ratcheting up week after week.

At the same time, buyer’s remorse for the Inclusive Government has already kicked in. Ordinary Zimbabweans are worried about Zanu PF’s wanton violations of Global Political Agreement (GPA) terms while MDC appears to be unperturbed. The base is becoming increasingly anxious about the fate of the Inclusive Government. The dream for hope and change seems to be slipping away by the day.

The same is happening here in the US with the Obama administration. President Obama has capitulated on a number of campaign promises: whether it relates to prosecuting war crimes allegedly committed by Bush and company, habeas corpus with regard to Obama’s restoration of Bush’s military tribunals for Guantanamo prisoners indefinitely held there, cosmetic Wall Street reforms, disenchantment with the way the wars are going particularly in Afghanistan as well as frustrations with a fast dwindling economy are some of the pertinent issues.

The major source of my personal misgivings and current buyer’s remorse has been the bloated size of the bankrupt Zimbabwe government which is chockfull of redundant ministries.  For instance, it is retarded to have a Minister of Education, Minister of AND Higher Education; Minister of Agriculture, Minister of AND Lands, Minister of AND Water; Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of AND Home Affairs (two of them) and of course there are several ministers of State in the Ministers of state’s offices (sic).

In Zimbabwean politics Zanu PF feeds and burgeons on organized chaos while the MDC continues to play ‘the nice guy’. To gain a perspective, Mugabe thrives when things are fractious with a prevailing war-like situation that breeds animosity and paranoia. To this present day Mugabe has created for himself extremely messy situations that even saw hundreds of people dying yet for him it served a sinister purpose as he is always the progenitor of such chaos. Some of the situations seemed to indicate that the dictator was cornered and finally going but only to see him emerging more viciously entrenched than before. There is no better definition of a dictator than someone who has been in power by hook and crook for 29 years and still counting,

Mugabe and his Zanu PF party know fully well that they will never win any free and fair election in Zimbabwe. For that reason, their political machinations are light years ahead of the MDC, no wonder they are already talking about the Kariba Draft which they are gearing to exploit in order to circumvent the constitutional reform process. Mugabe believes that Zimbabwe’s politics is in his possession and under his dominion. MDC politicians have to be strong enough to stand up to Zanu PF’s cunning schemes.

When Prime Minister Tsvangirai says Mugabe is part of the and solution, he ‘ain’t kiddin’. For the faint-hearted, like me, I pray for the Prime Minister’s safety occasionally as he is surrounded by brigands. The problem is that the Inclusive Government has ensured safety for thugs, murderers and rapists whose atrocious human rights records are a ‘public secret’. As a result they have been given tacit approval to continue with those crimes against humanity with impunity.

If more MDC-affiliated ministers were as fearless and tenacious as Tendai Biti, half the GNU’s problems would have been solved by now. Their docility has huge political consequences for the people of Zimbabwe and for the PM himself. Take the Home Affairs Minister, Giles Mutsekwa for instance, wherever he has been hibernating all these months is quite a mystery. What a waste of an appointment!  

In what seemed like a brewing class warfare, we also learnt that the Zimbabwean Diaspora community in the UK was extremely hostile to the Prime Minister because he had appealed to them about the need to return home arguing that Zimbabwe has become more stable than before the inclusive government was instituted.

The notion that the Prime Minister was deliberately attempting to mislead Zimbabweans in the Diaspora is political naiveté at its worst. We met him in Washington DC and he said exactly the same words that he repeated in the UK. We found no offense in his remarks, instead we saw a patriot whose sole objective ( at least for now) is to ensure that the Diaspora urgently re-engages with the homeland. If the people in the Diaspora want to hear a false diagnosis of what Zimbabwe needs in order for it to move forward, then the PM was certainly not the harbinger of such falsehoods. He was forthright on that issue. What the brothers and sisters in the UK might have missed is that the economic realities of the Zimbabwe situation require a massive brain gain to reverse the brain drain that occurred.

On the other hand, it would be unfair to entirely blame the Diaspora for not cordially welcoming the Prime Minister. Relations between Zimbabwean politicians and those in the Diaspora have always been rocky.  Mugabe himself started the animosity with his regular diatribes that ridiculed and demeaned the people in the Diaspora.

I can understand the Zimbabwean Diaspora’s frustrations. As reported in the Herald of September 4, 2004 Mugabe’s chronic bellicose rhetoric took him to another level when he castigated the Diaspora saying: “Vanoenda kunaBlair (Tony, British Prime Minister) vosvika ikoko basa ravanopiwa nderekuchengeta tuchembere vachitukwenya misana. Aiwaka regai kutinyadzisa kudaro,” (scoffing at the trashy jobs that the Diasporans sometimes settle for, such as working in nursing homes)

Ironically, Mugabe’s money-printing economy was literally sustained by Diaspora remittances.  According to his own admission, the Minister of Economic Planning Elton Mangoma, admitted recently that the Diaspora remits up to US$1 billion a year to Zimbabwe. Surprisingly, there is no deliberate strategy to harness this tremendous financial resource.

The mere fact that PM Tsvangirai teamed up with Mugabe and his ilk, the very embodiments of violence, cruelty and moral ugliness is a source of convulsions to many in the Diaspora. However there was no other way out of this political quagmire except through the inclusive government. In any case the Diaspora takes portion of the blame for deserting the struggle and leaving it to MDC alone. Whoever mentioned that the people of Zimbabwe were experiencing ‘struggle fatigue’ was right. It was not the first time Mugabe had stolen an election yet nothing was done about that.

The general populace that the Diaspora left in Zimbabwe after the mass exodus was incapable of waging a formidable civil disobedience (the magnitude of recent Iranian uprising or Ukraine’s Orange Revolution) that was needed to topple Mugabe. The international community had given up on Zimbabwe only to resurface last year with an inclusive government-type deal. Probably if Zimbabwe and Sudan had weapons of mass destruction, that would have been a different story as more and appropriate international attention would have been invested in both countries.

In that regard, the Diaspora has not been included in the leadership of the inclusive government regardless of the role it played (and continues to play) in the Zimbabwean economy. Understandably so, previously the Diaspora was not allowed to vote hence it was politically insignificant. Politicians want power and votes. There is no doubt that the impending new constitution will include the Diaspora vote hence resurrecting its role. Going forward, who does not want part of the ‘four million people’ cake which is almost half the entire electorate?

The Diaspora is suddenly becoming a strong force to reckon with even though its true role continues to be bastardized by paranoid politicians. As a way of illustration, let’s do some fuzzy math here: There is no disagreement that the four million people who left Zimbabwe are economically active. Assuming that the inclusive government embarks on a ‘US$100 per Diasporan’ fund raising campaign in exchange of stock ownership in a stable publicly traded company, total revenue will be $400 million easily. Compare that with the current pathetic monthly national revenues of US$6 million.

This donor/aid syndrome has blinded the Biti’s and the Mangoma’s of our time who are responsible for economic recovery strategy. Home-grown solutions work, but it starts by proactively engaging and appreciating the role that the Diaspora can play. Things have to be done differently this time around. It is sad to note that the Diaspora has been taken for granted yet it has the potential to kick-start the economy in an enormous way.

Let us also remember that the battle to clean up Zimbabwe requires all of us, each one playing his or her part and not just the MDC. Who said it is safe out there (in Zimbabwe) for the PM and the MDC?  Dr. Martin L. King once said: “Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it political? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor political, nor popular – but one must take it simply because it is right.”

In the contemporary context, for the PM, it was also a question of a flawed communication strategy. The Diaspora in various parts of the world has developed its own cultures, norms and sensitivities over the past decade. There has to be a deliberate effort to politically and economically engage the Diaspora. In all his speeches and interviews, the PM has at least five competing audiences that have to be addressed, unfortunately simultaneously most of the time: the international/donor community, the Diaspora, Zanu PF machinery, MDC followers and the general Zimbabwean populace.

At this point the PM needs wordsmiths. His communications department should be more than a mere spinning apparatus but a robust team that engages these audiences on a regular basis churning out intelligent stuff. When we hear that the PM has embarked on a newsletter it comes as no surprise. The question still remains as to how far the MDC has taken issue with the Herald. The MDC must demand its fair share of airtime as well as a complete reform of the Herald to include firing partisan journalists. There has to be a revolt because Zanu PF is getting away with too many crimes.

However that is not to say the PM must be allowed to manipulate people into a tacit acceptance of many of the policies that he campaigned against and that the MDC stands for. For instance it was inappropriate for him to say that there is no violence in Zimbabwe (if reports are authenticated). For those of us in MDC, we know fully well that there has to be strong loyal opposition and self-criticism for our leadership, lack of which will be self-destructive.  Zanu PF regime successfully produced the Mugabe monster. By now Mugabe should have been comfortably and fully retired as an elderly patriarch like Nelson Mandela.

In the world of stock market investments, it is a taboo to attempt to catch a falling knife. It is considered suicidal to try and invest in a freefalling stock like Zimbabwe, not until it bottoms out. For the PM, trying to rescue Zimbabwe is like attempting to catch a falling knife. It is lethal. It is this heroic dedication that should see men and women rallying around the cause for reform and change in Zimbabwe. The journey is full of several obstacles and treacheries.

 In carrying out his duties of helping to rebuild Zimbabwe, we have to remember that Mr Morgan Tsvangirai has also morphed from being a mere leader of an opposition party to a leader of a country.  It is also very easy to judge the Prime Minister against a resume of five months yet we have a failed Mugabe with a useless resume of nearly 30 years.

PM has a difficult task of trying to plug holes that were created by the Mugabe’s regime for so long. At the same time no one quite knows what exactly the future holds. PM is in a battle to win for “hearts and minds” of the international community. The Jonathan Moyo notion that somehow USA and UK will just pour money into Zimbabwe is delusional. They are frustrated and envious of the fact that the PM is proving to be a nimble politician, surprisingly to them, contrary to many warped and preconceived notions such as the one which Mugabe desperately  promoted when he occasionally branded Tsvangirai as an ‘ignoramus’ that will ‘never ever rule Zimbabwe!’

Mr Gono is nobody’s genius: Mr Bloch Please

In a space of two years, Gono successfully slashed a total of 25 zeroes. The name Gono, arguably one of the most corrupt public officials during Mugabe’s regime, cannot feature in the same sentence with the word genius. Given his supreme arrogance, it might very well be that the embattled Governor bribed Mr Bloch to publicly endorse him by bizarrely painting him as a ‘genius’. Remember Mr Gono vainly tried to rehabilitate his already-withered reputation in his pathetically written and self-aggrandizing book entitled ‘Casino Economy.’ (What a waste of money!)

Mr Erich Bloch’s recent attempts to characterize the failed Reserve Bank Governor of Zimbabwe Gideon Gono as a genius are testament to how political patronage has taken precedence over economic sense in Zimbabwe. Even though Mr Bloch was already rapidly becoming irrelevant, what really compels intelligent people like him to volunteer themselves to insult an already hurting general populace of Zimbabwe is beyond us. The people of Zimbabwe deserve nothing less than a complete national apology from Mr Bloch.

There is no disagreement that the world’s highest inflation rate ever recorded in history occurred under Mr Gono’s tenure which was marked by complete financial chaos. Mr Gono’s culpability as an accomplice of President Robert Mugabe in destroying the once thriving economy of Zimbabwe is incontestable. What kind of advice was Mr Bloch giving Mr Gono given this colossal economic failure?

Fortunately, Mr Bloch’s opinions do not reflect those of the rest of the Zimbabwean people. Zimcitizen.com has written to the internationally renowned Gallup Organization requesting them to conduct a survey  to find out what people really think about Mr Bloch’s assertions that Mr Gono is a ‘genius’as well as his (un)favorability ratings. In August 2008, before the cholera outbreak and a spike in politically-motivated violence, it was the same leading barometer of public opinion, Gallup Poll, which revealed Mr Mugabe’s approval rating among Zimbabweans domiciled in Zimbabwe as 17%.

To better debug Mr Bloch’s myth that Mr Gono is a ‘genius’ there is need to look at his entire role during the Mugabe regime. Mr Gono’s name is synonymous with Mr Mugabe for a variety of reasons but chiefly because he has long been known as Mugabe’s personal banker and one of his closest allies. As a senior civil servant, Mr Gono was privatized,  in turn, he agreed to sacrifice his public responsibilities for private good.  Recently, as Mr Mugabe declared that “Gono will not go” his military brass declared that “we can take up arms if they try to dethrone the Governor.”

Mr Gono sponsored Mr Mugabe’s violent and bloody attacks on perceived enemies of the State who were overwhelmingly defenseless citizens – members of the opposition, MDC. Most notoriously, as an executive member of the much-dreaded Joint Operations Command, his hands are dripping with blood of hundreds of innocent civilians who never lived to see this so-called new Zimbabwe. Mr Gono and Mr Mugabe have legacies that are strangely alike.

Mr Gono is increasingly refusing to go in spite of conventional wisdom that Zimbabwe is now at a stage where new blood is needed. In line with terms laid out in the Global Political Agreement, there is an urgent need to heed calls by the well-meaning Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Finance Minister, Tendai Biti that Mr Gono’s  departure  “is important so that we restore the legitimacy, credibility and integrity of the Reserve Bank.”

To gain a perspective of his governorship of the Reserve Bank, Mr Gono assumed office in December 2003 when inflation was 600%. A year later, Mr Gono made erroneous but upbeat assurances that “in 2005, the inflation rate is projected to continue to decline steadily through the year to end between 20 and 35 percent,” even though all economic indicators suggested that the economy was headed for the intensive care unit. Obviously his projection was drunk. In fact it became a pattern of his leadership style throughout: inspired by fortune-telling instead of sound economics and ethical practices.

Statistics from the Government of Zimbabwe’s Central Statistical Office (CSO) showed that by October 2008, official inflation rate was 231 million% even though projections by many economists were well-over 5 sextillion percent, according to The Times, February 4, 2009. According to Professor Steve Hanke, renowned economist of Johns Hopkins University and Cato Institute Senior Fellow, who developed the Hanke Hyperinflation Index for Zimbabwe (HHIZ), by September 2009 Zimbabwe’s inflation was as high as 89.7 sextillion percent.

If removing zeroes from the national currency, a not-so-rare-occurrence under Mr Gono’s tenure, is tantamount to acts of genius, then Mr Bloch is not being disingenuous. The man (Mr Gono), has  no shame for such pathetic performance. He bragged about anything. Early this year (February 2, 2009), during one of his unpopular zero-removing ceremonies, he had the audacity to say “This Monetary Policy Statement unveils yet another necessary program of revaluing our local currency, through the removal of 12 zeroes, with immediate effect.” The highest currency (dollar bill) at that time (February 2, 2009) was 100 trillion which was equivalent to 30 US cents.

Prior to that, six months earlier (July 30 2008), he had slashed ten zeroes from the local currency. Mr Gono announced that “the Zimbabwe dollar will be redenominated by a factor of one to 10, which means we are removing 10 zeros from our monetary value. Ten billion dollars today will be reduced to one dollar with effective from August 1, (2008)”. Even the bearer checks introduced 3 years earlier were cosmetic solutions to deep-seated economic problems. There was no mention of how the Governor was going to address the hyperinflationary environment. In a space of two years, Gono successfully slashed a total of 25 zeroes.

The name Mr Gono, arguably one of the most corrupt public officials during Mugabe’s regime, cannot feature in the same sentence with the word genius. Given his supreme arrogance, it might very well be that the embattled Governor bribed Mr Bloch to publicly endorse him by bizarrely painting him as a ‘genius’. Remember Mr Gono vainly tried to rehabilitate his already-withered reputation in his pathetically written and self-aggrandizing book entitled ‘Casino Economy.’ (What a waste of money!)

 At first we were tempted to call Mr Bloch’s behavior the equivalent of what the former US Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan referred to as an instance of ‘irrational exuberance’. But again Mr Bloch is not that economically naïve as to be blind to the damage that Mr Gono’s policies have caused. (But alas, he never had any!) Upon further reflection we concluded that this did not come as a coincidence but a well-orchestrated attempt that coerced Mr Bloch to sanitize Mr Gono.

Mr Bloch is not alone, he is not the first intellectual to surprise the nation by displaying such weird public behavior. Professor Jonathan Moyo fits in that category perfectly, even though he is still prostituting and switching sides whenever it becomes convenient for him to do so.

Shortages of everything defined Mr Gono’s tenure. They ranged from shortages of local currency, foreign currency,  food, fuel, water, medical supplies, educational supplies, toilet paper and everything imaginable.  Life in Zimbabwe was characterized by long queues. When the cholera outbreak (caused by shortages in sewer treatment chemicals, hence contaminated water) finally hit last year, over three thousand people died. Another argument for Mr Gono’s culpability! To this present day, the disease is still ‘alive and well’ having infected over 100 000 people.

In essence Mr Gono became a co-CEO of one of the world’s leading money printing companies, Giesecke & Devrient based in Germany which had the monopoly of supplying planeloads of Zimbabwe’s quintillion bank notes. Even though they told us that they were under targeted sanctions, that did not stop them from shipping their flowers to Europe,  importing the bank notes from Germany or getting Chinese ships full of tear gas and police equipment to use them against defenseless citizens.

In October 2008, speaking to the government owned Herald, Mr Gono said, “I must reiterate that I am going to print and print and sign the money until sanctions are removed and there is balance-of-payments support. It’s a commitment I am ready to be fired for because we need money for infrastructural development.” Doesn’t economics 101 teach that printing money is a recipe for inflation?

By his own admission, Mr Gono stated that the Reserve Bank confiscated multi-million dollars in private and personal foreign currency accounts, junta-style. According to Mr Bloch, only a genius could do that. The international aid agency Global Fund, a victim of such malpractices threatened to pull out of Zimbabwe unless Mr Gono returned its US$7.3 million that was arbitrarily raided by Mr Gono.

As the country’s coffers intermittently ran dry, Zimbabwe saw the resurgence of barter trade, one of the oldest forms of commerce, which dates back to the beginning of civilization. Many companies were prompted to use barter trade. In August 2008, auctioneers Hammer and Tongues wasted no time announcing their newest innovation called “auction by barter” where dozens of cars and other goods became readily available for bidding payable by gas coupons. Against a backdrop of financial hardships, the company announced that it was time for “homegrown solutions for Zimbabweans. Now we are selling in liters not in dollars.”

We fully understand that Mr Bloch has spent so many years in the comfortable company of an irresponsible Reserve Bank Governor who with the help of his master, plunged Zimbabwe into a tumultuous vortex of this economic whirlwind but eulogizing Mr Gono for his gargantuan failures is a shame.

If this is what Mr Eric Bloch calls ‘genius,’ then we have one request, in his second life may he come back as a reptile!