Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti was expected to intervene this week in a boardroom fight between Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono and Central Bank Deputy Chairman Charles Kuwaza.
The dispute was said to be threatening to derail the overhaul of the central bank.
Sources said Gono has appealed to Biti to block Kuwaza, who has accused him of corruption and says he should be prosecuted for his operation of the central bank between 2003 and 2008.
Kuwaza, a former Finance Ministry permanent secretary and currently a member of the State Procurement Board, is said to have accused Gono of giving undocumented loans to friends and ZANU-PF higher-ups.
Sources said the feud is related to the long-running power struggle inside ZANU-PF, Kuwaza being aligned with the faction led by retired army commander Solomon Mujuru and Gono tied to Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. Reached by VOA, Kuwaza declined to comment. Gono was said to be on a business trip to Asia.
Economist Eric Bloch told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that the boardroom battle should be addressed before it scuttles efforts by the central bank’s new board to overhaul the long-troubled institution.
Sources said Gono has appealed to Biti to block Kuwaza who has accused him of corruption and says he should be prosecuted for his operation of the central bank between 2003 and 2008
