What is ZiG? According to the new 'clown' {oops, Governor} of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe [RBZ] it, {Zimbabwe Gold - and other Reserves(?) in "support"} has been shoe-horned into Zimbabwe to replace the previous failed currency and currencies "initiatives". The Previous iteration was launched in an equally exciting fanfare at a claimed exchange rate of 1Zim$ to 1 USD, yes One-to-One! On the black market recently, it was trading around 40-45,000 Zim$ to 1USD and in supermarkets at 25,000:1. So an utter failure with the added {bonus} for Zanu PF looters/plunders/thieves that it has stolen the USD wealth of the Nation in exchange for literally worthless 'paper'.
Whilst Bloomberg has reported "success" and commentaries welcomed it {??? how}
Others have cried "Scam" or worse; see below
5th April 2024: Steve Hanke on Twitter/X: ""ZIM's latest financial gamble: ANOTHER "currency" backed by gold tokens, scheduled to be launched late this week. The tokens aren't convertible into gold or gold coins. It looks like another ZIM financial scam. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Gov. John Mushayavanhu = CLUELESS, CROOK, OR BOTH?""
9th April 2024: Steve Hanke on Twitter/X: ""Zimbabwe has introduced a new currency – the ZiG – the 6th in TEN YEARS. The ZiG is supposed to be backed by gold. BUT WHERE’S THE GOLD? Where there’s a ZiG, there’s a ZAG.""
10th April 2024: Dr Walter Mzembi {Ex Zimbabwe Minister} on Twitter/X: ""ZiG exemptions for some sectors are an indictment . Its a cousin currency of the Bond , RTGS as long as it can't buy fuel . Secondly the decision to exempt fuel sector reeks of conflict of interest, where the elite want to save their businesses from collapse but are prepared out of their own decisions to see everything else in Commerce collapse.
Why did you launch this currency then if you didn't have your act together?""
9th April 2024: ZBC News Online {Regime captured News Channel} on Twitter/X: ""ZiG currency will not be weakened by any form of manipulation," says RBZ governor, as illegal forex traders "spend days basking in the sun...""
9th April 2024: ZHRO on Twitter/X in Reply to @ZBCNewsonline: ""On the contrary ZiG is itself “manipulation”, based on empty promises, empty vaults & empty minds. From an illegal regime with a proven history of looting! Of looting Gold, Zimbabwe Gold!
On 18th April 2024 it will be 44 years since an apparent Zimbabwean Independence {18th April 1980} - but there are real and terrible SANCTION's on the majority of the population of Zimbabwe from then until even now!
......not by the EU, UK, US or even SADC - but by the Zanu PF Regime itself! It's impossible to label the regime as a "government" - they have breached every conceivable duty to their citizens for decades - through Intimidation, Oppression and Spies {CIO's}. The campaigns of abductions, beatings, torture, and murder - are specifically designed to keep the population "tractable" - easy to order about, influence, or tell them who they should vote for in the various sham democratic elections.
44 years of sanctions by the evil regime, upon the entire population and all its infrastructure must stop!!
A history of all the abductions, torture, murder, Looting, Corruption and Vote Rigging! "A History of Atrocity: Patterns, Perpetrators and Prospects for Accountability for International Crimes in Zimbabwe"" and Also this link to Human Rights Watch to an article published on 15th November 2023
So much so that Amnesty International Zimbabwe have started a campaign today upon the 9th anniversary of the "disappearance" of the protester, Itai Dzamara on the 9th March 2015. See Twitter/X items and the further commentaries by ZHRO and others.
To be continued and added to by additional authors!!
A personal statement by the Honourable Tendai Biti
Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. The weight of a stolen election, unprecedented corruption and the looting of public assets sits heavy on the shoulders of Zimbabweans who want and deserve better.
The environment in the world right now is toxic. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have pushed Zimbabwe to the bottom of the World’s attention calendar. This has allowed the vampire state here to carry out brazen election fraud. Not satisfied, the regime is now engaged in a malicious push to weaken our struggle, the progressive movement, through the illegal recall of elected public representatives.
It is therefore shocking to hear, and read, a daily stream of abusive, malicious and defamatory claims that Professor Welshman Ncube and I, are colluding with the regime and its proxies to append a struggle that have occupied and consumed all our adult lives. I do not speak for Prof Ncube, an honest and decent comrade who buried his dear mother on Friday, but as someone who has been in this struggle for as long as I have, one who has endured Zanu PF’s jails and physical attacks by the same, it is heartbreaking, if not tragic, that many Cdes that have been with us on this journey are now given false labels and badges, Zanu PF wish they had coined first.
I don’t believe in recalls. I have never been part of recalls. I will never be part of recalls. In my life, I have been recalled twice in 2015 and in 2021 through the pernicious use of section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. I know the pain of a recall. My family knows the pain of a recall. The people of Harare East know the pain a recall. With other MPs, such as Temba Mliswa, we unsuccessfully fought for the removal and repeal of section 129(1)(k).
Like most Zimbabweans, I only get to read about the patently illegal recalls by Mr. Tshabangu in the newspapers. Given what I and my family have given to this struggle, it saddens me that I have to state publicly that I will never be part of a project to weaken the democratic struggle in Zimbabwe. I have been imprisoned and tortured for the change we all seek, and I have stood firm. I have never worked for Zanu PF, and I will die before I lend my hand to the illegitimate Zanu PF regime.
I had hoped to be a Member of Parliament. I have my reservations about the process that prevented this happening. I have my challenges and reservations about our identity, structural, strategic and procedural polity. I am a democrat who believes in constitutionalism, the rule of law, transparency, openness and collective leadership. I can never compromise on these core values. However, no dispute nor differences is ever sufficient to place one at the service of Zanu PF.
I have a daily job at my law practice and that’s where I have retreated to fight for Zimbabweans in that sphere of my influence. Additionally, I have progressive international engagements that require my full attention.
Fellow Zimbabweans, all this chatter and actions by the illegitimate regime and its proxies are an engineered distraction from the main prize: to free ourselves from this rapacious dictatorship. It has been a long and tortuous road; and victory is closer than the distance back to where we started.
Tendai Biti
11 November 2023
When you have a budget this big {in a small Country like Zimbabwe}, you can get what you want. In the UK at the London Stock Exchange Zanu PF {still masquerading as a government – after 43 years} set about with a slick and professional ‘Indaba’. It was impressive, all singing, all dancing performance.
They had enlisted Tom Attenborough, Head of International Business Development – Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange – to, in effect green-light their Victoria Falls Exchange {VFX} and listen to a lot of talk about changing the regulatory framework etc etc.
The Finance Minister {Mthuli Ncube} was supposed to give the “Keynote Speech” but we suspect he was arrested at Heathrow – something to do with money laundering and gold smuggling {possibly} as #GoldMafia would indicate. Maybe he had too much Gold Bullion in his luggage, thinking he could get that back to Switzerland where he lives!
Having said all that, the event was well scripted, well-rehearsed, with a carefully vetted audience with plenty of MBA style word-speak. {some might say “waffle”}.
Both Ambassador Colonel K Katsande {ex Military!}, and Mthuli’s “stand-in” both ironically used the word “TRANSPARENCY” in their talks – with a record of 43 years in power, and done so, with a fist of iron {in an iron glove!} aided by staggering resources built around the propaganda to 'hide' their crimes – transparency {even in terms of Investor Risk} is completely misleading!
Still with $240m to burn on the 2023 election anything is possible. Studies, data to reinforce your claims and your agenda {easily bought these days}.
Marketed under the banner of “”Financial Markets Indaba {their words} has the aim of mobilising investment through convening diaspora, leading global institutional investors, corporate leaders, industry experts and our team of analysts to explore sector and market trends and identify significant investment opportunities. Through thought leadership, productive exchange of ideas and sharing practices, the conference delegates and participants discuss how to integrate and align regulatory framework with new strategies, business models, financial measures, and investment decisions. FMI is a unit of Emergent Capital Management (ECM) www.ecminvest.com which is licensed and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe.””
Contents
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The 6 key takeaways from the Al Jazeera Investigations the USA imposition of KYC {Know Your Customer} for their AML {Anti-Money Laundering} Legislation regarding the ‘sanctity’ of the US Dollar and its usage overseas. |
14th April 2023
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Here are six key takeaways from #GoldMafia
No matter where you buy your gold and regardless of the country’s stamp on it, the very nature of the gold trade makes it extremely difficult to guarantee where it originated from.
The investigation showed how gold smuggled from Zimbabwe makes its way to Dubai and, according to experts in money laundering and illicit trade, is then exported to other major gold hubs like Switzerland and London.
These transfers are possible because gold is melted and refined repeatedly, a process that obfuscates all traces of its origin, making it particularly difficult for law enforcement agencies to build evidence against suspected smugglers.
This also means it is hard to be certain if gold purchased on the open market is ethically and legally clean or whether it is free of laundering and crime. A watch might have been made with gold from a conflict region, or a bar of gold may have been mixed with smuggled gold.
Amjad Rihan, a former partner at the consulting firm Ernst & Young, was responsible for auditing Dubai-based Kaloti a decade ago when it was one of the largest gold refineries in the world. He was blunt in his assessment. “Gold that comes to refiners, once it’s refined, it’s practically brand new gold,” he told Al Jazeera.
