Gono implores feuding SMM parties to bury the hatchet

Shabani Mashava Mine dispute to find a common resolution to the dispute for the good of the workers at the mine and the country’s economy.
Dr Gono said, as the central bank, they were willing to proffer technical advice should they be approached and help SMM back on track.
He was giving oral evidence before a House of Assembly Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy.
The committee chaired by Guruve South MP, Cde Edward Chindori-Chininga, wanted Dr Gono to give his views on the dispute that has seen SMM being placed under the administration of Mr Afaras Gwaradzimba in terms of the Reconstruction of State Indebted and Insolvency Companies Act.
In his evidence, Dr Gono said former SMM shareholder, Mr Mutumwa Mawere should desist from attacking the Reconstruction laws.
He said doing so was also an attack on legislators who passed the law.
Mr Mawere, he said, should also avoid fanning hate language in the media, while Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Mr Gwaradzimba should cease doing the same.
Dr Gono said there was need to bring together the feuding parties – Mr Mawere on one hand and Minister Chinamasa and Mr Gwaradzimba – on the table.
Each one should admit his wrongs and a common ground established for the good of the mines without another seeking retribution, said Dr Gono.
He said now that the Supreme Court had brought finality to the dispute when it ruled that the reconstruction laws were constitutional, there was now need to sit down and discuss mapping the way forward.
“Let’s look at the bigger picture, the economic well-being of the mine, what are the possible benefits that would arise if we open a new chapter on the saga and have an amnesty, let those with a passion for mining asbestos be allowed to mine.
“I don’t think this matter is beyond resolution. There is the proverbial grass that always suffers when elephants fight,” said Dr Gono.
“As RBZ we are a technical institution, a reservoir of knowledge . . . we stand ready to give advice.
“If the nation is going to look for angels during the sanctions era, they will be hard to find.
“Mawere should know that there is a Government to be respected, no one has ever won a battle with the Government, and on the other hand, Government should say yes, we have won but let’s talk, yes there is the law but beyond the law there are persons. “
Dr Gono added, “This one should say yes you are my Minister and the other saying yes, you are an entrepreneur.”
The central bank chief said the country was spending a lot of money in foreign exchange in importing asbestos from Russia instead of resolving the dispute and let SMM tick again.
“Let everyone in this process come and say ‘I am not an angel, whatever I did I had good intention, whether it is Minister Chinamasa, Gwaradzimba or Mawere,”
The central bank, said Dr Gono, had done the same on the banking sector in a row pitting Mr Nigel Chanakira and John Moxon on the Kingdom Meikles Africa Group that had turned acrimonious but was eventually amicably resolved.
The same was done to shareholders of Trust and Royal bank that have since opened their doors and very soon, Barbican would open its doors after conciliation discussions.
Explaining Government’s role, Dr Gono said the State had assisted Mr Mawere in the acquisition of SMM through a government guarantee.
However, Mr Mawere denied this when he gave evidence before the same committee early this year.
Dr Gono also told the committee that various dispensations were extended to SMM, including some under the Productive Sector Facility that was extended to various firms through their financial institutions that would give a cover letter recommending that the company be given assistance.
“Guarantees were given during the acquisition stage before my tenure. They would form the basis of the acquisition and they would qualify as cash,” he said.
Dr Gono had earlier on declined to comment on his advisory report to President Mugabe, arguing that he could not make correspondence between him and the President a subject of discussion in an open fora.
He said the de-specification of Mr Mawere was supposed to pave way for negotiations, reconciling how much money SMM had not returned in export proceeds and how the mine can be resuscitated.
Dr Gono said there was indeed money that had not been remitted to Zimbabwe by SMM but what needed to be a subject of discussion was whether the money was outside legally or not and how much it was.
Glen View North Member of House of Assembly, Mr Fani Munengami (MDC-T) asked Dr Gono if it was proper to deem debts owed to state entities like Zesa and Zimra, as constituting state indebtedness.
In his response, the central bank boss said while on a broader picture state entities reported to the government, there were separate legal entities in their own right capable of suing and being sued.
“They were separate legal persona in the eyes of the law, unless you have changed the law,” he said.
Uzumba MP, Cde Simba Mudarikwa (Zanu-PF) asked whether Government managed to acquire share certificates after the RBZ paid US$2 million to T and N, shareholders of London registered SMM Holdings, after Mr Mawere through his investment vehicle, Africa Resources Limited failed to constantly pay the US$5 million monthly instalment for the acquisition of the SMM.
“The US$2 million was paid at the instruction of the Government. The money remains outstanding and we do not have the share certificates, I am not sure if the administrator has them, we are treating it as something outstanding to be resolved when the SMM issue is resolved,” he said.
Cde Chindori-Chininga asked whether the reconstruction law was not selective in its application.
In his response, Dr Gono said: “I am not sure whether I am supposed to comment when you have made a fact.”