RBZ to replace two top bosses

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THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has announced vacancies for positions that were previously held by bosses who were last year implicated in fraud.

Central bank governor John Mangudya told The Financial Gazette that the two – Mirirai Chiremba who was in charge of the financial intelligence unit (FIU) and Norman Mataruka (bank supervision) – “retired from the bank”.
“Applications are invited from suitably qualified and experienced persons to fill the vacancy of director that has arisen within the bank supervision division… director general, which has arisen within the FIU,” read two separate statements issued by the RBZ last week.
Chiremba and Mataruka were part of four RBZ senior directors who were accused of corruption and involvement in the parallel market by activist and former chairperson of Treasury’s communications taskforce Acie Lumumba in October 2018.
The central bank then, immediately suspended the four, but latter cleared them of all wrongdoing following a two-month-long investigation.
The communications taskforce, which had been appointed by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, was disbanded just three days after Lumumba’s utterances.
Chiremba and Mataruka, however, resigned amid reports of a crackdown by the RBZ on its employees who are suspected of involvement in foreign currency black market activities.
Mataruka has also been implicated in scandals at the National Social Security Authority (Nssa).
In 2017, an official at the Labour ministry, a former minister and a construction firm linked to Mataruka, were said to be among beneficiaries of loans deployed to the market after Nssa had released about $82 million in Treasury Bills in on-lending lifelines.
Not only this, but some of the funds flowed into a bank with a history of fragility, which many believed Mataruka’s supervision division should have shutdown.
On the other hand, Chiremba has also been previously implicated in impropriety at the apex bank.
In 2007, Chiremba was suspended by former RBZ governor Gideon Gono over allegations involving the purchase of foreign currency on the parallel market. He was cleared following an internal investigation in this instance as well.
The latest developments also follow reports that there has been pressure to renew key staff at the RBZ, as President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration seems keen on making changes at the bank.
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