By Farai D Hove | The Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya has tried to reverse his earth-shaking statement that Zimbabwe has no sanctions on imports and exports.

In what some Zimbabweans have titled the “Al Jazeera cyclone,” govt elements have been in panic reactions, responding to the upcoming Al Jazeera documentary investigating money laundering and gold smuggling between Zimbabwe, UK, and the UAE in the last 4 years.

Yesterday, the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission announced it will initiate arrests over the documentary. This is despite some of the accused having been well known for over years in their criminal operations.

In an interview, Dr Mangudya said Zimbabwe remains under sanctions that affect the movement of funds.

Said Magudya:

“Sanctions on Zimbabwe are through ZIDERA and augmented by OFAC through placing of entities on the designated list of sanctions. What this means is that whilst these sanctions are not directly on trade per se they negatively affect the movement of funds within the international banking system.

“The Zimbabwean banking sector has lost a substantial number of corresponding banking relationships over the past 20 years, through de-risking, because of the OFAC sanctions.

“OFAC sanctions also affect the smooth flow of funds across the borders as financial institutions are obligated to comply with OFAC sanctions. ZIDERA on the other hand is designed to put a credit freeze on official financial flows to Zimbabwe,” said Dr Mangudya.

Speaking at a breackfast meeting yesterday morning, Dr Mangudya said allegations of money laundering through the RBZ, that were raised by some media organisations could not go unchallenged.

“The snippets for the documentary that were coming are not rumours or grapevine. When something like that is advertised, I will not sit down and wait when someone is demonising the central bank and Government of Zimbabwe. I am the custodian of the financial system in this country,” Mangudya said.

“Money laundering is serious. Even when people say I responded fast or I was supposed to wait, wait for what when the house is burning? You are told that there is an allegation of money laundering in your country and the Reserve Bank is the one cleaning it and you sleep comfortably waiting, that’s not acceptable. We are a central bank that has its own integrity,” said Dr Mangudya.