Former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono claimed credit for the demise of then Information Minister Jonathan Moyo when he felt out with President Robert Mugabe following the Tsholotsho declaration at which Moyo and other senior Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front officials are reported to have opposed Mugabe’s choice of Joice Mujuru as the party’s vice-president.
Gono said Moyo had become a liability to the party because of the way he dressed down senior party officials like Vice-President Joseph Msika, national chairman John Nkomo and politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa.
He claimed that Moyo had taken advantage of his frequent visits to Mugabe to convey the false impression that he was speaking on behalf of Mugabe, including when he organised the Tsholotsho meeting.
Most senior officials of ZANU-PF were, however, fed up with Moyo and his approach and supported his ouster.
United States embassy officials, however said Gono’s considerable ego and ambition sometimes made it difficult to distinguish the degree to which he was speaking for Mugabe from the self-serving spin he put on events.
Moyo was subsequently expelled from the party when he refused to step down to allow a woman candidate to contest the Tsholotsho seat which he wanted to contest.
Moyo won the seat, twice, as an independent candidate but was clobbered when he contested it as a member of ZANU-PF in 2013.
He only regained the seat after the MDC-T legislator Roselene Nkomo was expelled from the party for crossing the floor to join Tendai Biti’s faction. The MDC-T boycotted the by-election.
Below are the Wikileaks cables that mention Moyo’s name:
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