Founding FinGaz proprietor Elias Rusike dies
By KING SHANGO
Published on: 12th July, 2009
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ZIMBABWE – HARARE – Elias Rusike, publisher of The Financial Gazette in the 1990s, has died.
He was 68. Rusike died at St Annes Hospital in Avondale in Harare after suffering from stomach cancer.
A crusading journalist-cum-media entrepreneur, he spent time in police cells over a story relating to President Robert Mugabe’s romance with Grace Marufu, who is now the First Lady.
With him in that mini-dungeon was Trevor Ncube, then the editor of the newspaper, after the departure of Geoff Nyarota, himself a victim of government censure over the Willowgate Scandal, which led to his removal from the editorship of The Chronicle daily newspaper – owned by the government.
Rusike later on sold his Modus Publications, publishers of the Financial Gazette, reportedly to Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Once rated as one of the best financial newspapers in southern Africa, the Financial Gazette which Rusike formed has gone down the drain.
Rusike’s Hamba Investment sold its entire stake to a group of businessmen led by former Editor-In-Chief Francis Mdlongwa, who had teamed up with Sylvester Saburi and Solomon Mtetwa.
However, the consortium failed to raise enough money and Octadew, an investment company linked to Gideon Gono, snapped the stake.
Although Gono has not publicly acknowledged that he is the owner of The Financial Gazette, his former Editor-In Chief, Sunsleey Chamunorwa, who has reportedly been roped to take over as editor of the forthcoming Daily Evening Gazette, implied that Gono is the sole owner of the paper when he wrote to refute allegations that the CIO held shares in the company.
The real ownership of the paper is shrouded in mystery, although Gono is said to own 70% and nominees – who include lawyer Florence Ziumbe and businessman Jonathan Kadzura – hold the remaining 30.
