IT has been nearly a week since the last episode of the four-part documentary Gold Mafia was released and yet government remains radio silent.
Not a word, not a peep, nothing about the serious allegations made in the documentary.
This is especially shocking considering that the allegations made in the documentary series involve the country’s apex bank, the Reserve bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
Why this is important is because the RBZ is the sole institution responsible for selling gold, through its subsidiary Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
In fact, as we reported yesterday, legal think-tank Veritas states that the “Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act gives the Bank wide powers to buy, sell and keep gold.”
That means any sale of gold has to involve the central bank.
In the documentary, some of the allegations levelled against the RBZ include forging receipts, invoices, clearances through customs, and issuing licences to non-RBZ affiliated persons for gold.
And while the RBZ has vehemently denied these allegations, the central bank is mum on actions it will take to investigate.
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But to be fair, the RBZ has always been quiet about its shenanigans, mainly, quasi fiscal activities.
According to Veritas, since 2000, the RBZ has attempted to encourage economic growth through quasi-fiscal operations amid periodic economic crises.
Health, infrastructure, education and agriculture were just some of the other areas of the economy that saw increased activity alongside the financial industry.
For instance, the bank provided funding for a farm mechanisation initiative outside of general government coffers and provided loans to relocated farmers, businesses, and government agencies at subsidised interest rates.
The loans were seldom checked for accuracy and they were rarely repaid.
The quasi-fiscal actions violated both the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act and general laws because they were not sanctioned by the central bank, according to Veritas.
This is because the RBZ was left with a massive debt. Thus, in 2015, government assumed the bank’s obligations through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (Debt Assumption) Act.
However, there has never been any transparency on the obligors’ identities, the size of their debts, or the measures taken to collect on them.
Now, we are going through the same roller-coaster ride again with the allegations made in the Gold Mafia documentary series.
It’s said that the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over hoping for a different result.
In our view, the failure to address other quasi-fiscal activities is what led to this sense of complacency, so it was only natural that the RBZ would be involved in hundreds of millions of dollars being smuggled from Zimbabwe.
In fact, in the last episode of the documentary series, Zanu PF parliamentary candidate for Mabvuku, Pedzisai “Scott” Sakupwanya, is alleged to be the new “Mr Gold”, a smuggling kingpin.
The episode alleges this prospective “legislator” smuggled six tonnes of gold in a single year, that is more than a fifth of Zimbabwe’s average exports of the mineral.
Let that sink in: This is a man who is bidding to be a protector of the Constitution and laws of the land, who is alleged, in the documentary, to have smuggled six tonnes of gold worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
It is high time that the bank is probed, prodded, and hopefully, held to account.
