News / National
Gideon Gono stripped of state security
09 Jun 2013 at 08:00hrs | Views
The Police Protection Unit has withdrawn its officers who were guarding Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Gideon Gono's residence, The Standard reported.
Sources said the officers, who were providing 24-hour security at Gono's mansion in Borrowdale, were withdrawn in March when the central bank boss was away on business and repeated efforts to have them reinstated drew blanks.
However, the sources said, Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives have remained in protection of the embattled Gono who is in his final second term at the helm of the central bank ending November 30.
The withdrawal of the officers comes at a time when the central banker had been accused of having spirited away gold coins from the bank by Amai Jukwa, a faceless character on the social networking site, Facebook.
Close sources from the bank told The Standard yesterday that when Gono came back from an Afreximbank meeting in Egypt, he discovered that the officers had left their posts and further inquiries yielded no positive results.
An RBZ board member said Gono had briefed the board about the development.
It is understood that Gono reported the matter to President Robert Mugabe and Finance minister, Tendai Biti.
The two are said to have told Gono that they were powerless to do anything, raising further questions on who really had the final say on the matter.
Gono told The Standard one must find "permanent and unbreakable refuge, security and protection in God not from man".
He said matters of the State, security and statecraft were complicated, adding that it was not a right for one to have individualised police protection.
Sources said the officers, who were providing 24-hour security at Gono's mansion in Borrowdale, were withdrawn in March when the central bank boss was away on business and repeated efforts to have them reinstated drew blanks.
However, the sources said, Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives have remained in protection of the embattled Gono who is in his final second term at the helm of the central bank ending November 30.
The withdrawal of the officers comes at a time when the central banker had been accused of having spirited away gold coins from the bank by Amai Jukwa, a faceless character on the social networking site, Facebook.
Close sources from the bank told The Standard yesterday that when Gono came back from an Afreximbank meeting in Egypt, he discovered that the officers had left their posts and further inquiries yielded no positive results.
An RBZ board member said Gono had briefed the board about the development.
It is understood that Gono reported the matter to President Robert Mugabe and Finance minister, Tendai Biti.
The two are said to have told Gono that they were powerless to do anything, raising further questions on who really had the final say on the matter.
Gono told The Standard one must find "permanent and unbreakable refuge, security and protection in God not from man".
He said matters of the State, security and statecraft were complicated, adding that it was not a right for one to have individualised police protection.
Source - thestandard
