RBZ parades Zimbabwe's historic gold coins

Published: 10 June 2013

THE board of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has denied claims that historic gold coins had gone missing.

The allegations, first made by Munyaradzi Kereke, the former adviser to Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono, were "misleading and inaccurate", board secretary Arthur Manase said.

An audit and compliance report completed by an external audit firm, Ernst & Young, dated March 26, 2013, also confirmed the existence of the 529 pieces of gold coins minted between 1869 to 1984.

At today's prices, the gold would be worth US$637,000.

The auditors said they had "compared the quantity we counted to the client records and to the previous auditor's results as at 31 December 2012", adding: "The quantity of gold recorded per client records tallied with our results of counts."

And in a statement, the RBZ board, through Manase, said: "There have been, over the last 12 months, misleading and inaccurate reports suggesting that there is some missing gold amounting to 403.5 grams in the form of ‘gold coins'.

"Some of those false accusations have been made by a former staffer [Kereke] who has been sued for criminal defamation and the matter remains subjudice because the wheels of justice are still to turn.

"Other faceless personalities have since joined the fray on social networks denigrating the governor Dr Gideon Gono, and accusing him of misappropriating the gold coins.

"The above accusations are false and the gold is there as the bank's internal and external audit reports confirm. The board is satisfied that the bank's assets, including gold coins, are under safe custody."

The gold coins, which were paraded to reporters during a press conference also attended by Gono, comprise six classes – Kruger Rands, Rand gold coins, Edward, Elizabeth, George and Victoria.
- newzimbabwe