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Don't Blame Me, I Just Work Here!

Robert Mugabe has appointed Gideon Gono, who heads Zimbabwe’s reserve bank, to another five-year term, which, given what happened to the Zim economy under Gono’s watch, has caused something of an uproar. Gono denies ruining the country’s economy, which is probably true inasmuch as Gono was not solely or even primarily responsible for Zimbabwe’s economic chaos (me? I blame his boss.) But despite Gono’s blaming of just about everyone but himself for his country’s economic woes, he did play his role. And of course it probably does not help his cause that he has been accused of stealing money and sending it off to secret accounts in Europe and Asia. He denies these charges too. Not everyone has always been so understanding of poor Gono’s plight.

 

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Author

Derek Catsam
Derek Catsam

Derek Catsam is an associate professor of history at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Derek writes about race and politics in the United States and Africa, sports, and terrorism. He is currently working on books on bus boycotts in the United States and South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s, the Freedom Rides, and South African resistance politics in the 1980s. He has lived, worked, and travelled extensively throughout southern Africa. He is also a lifelong sports fan, with the Boston Red Sox as his first true love. He was one of about three dozen people to write books about the 2004 World Champion Red Sox, and the result is Bleeding Red: A Red Sox Fan's Diary of the 2004 Season. He writes about politics, sports, travel, pop culture, and just about anything else that comes to mind.

Areas of Focus:
Africa; Zimbabwe; South Africa; Apartheid

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