POSB HEIST: MNANGAGWA’S ILLEGAL SALE SCHEME MUST BE STOPPED

The corrupt ZANU PF government has once again shown total disrespect for the law and for the people of Zimbabwe. The attempted sale of the state-owned People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB) to a shadowy company called Hebrew Investment Group (HIG) is not a business deal. It is a brazen heist. We are told there were letters to POSB management, a direct order from President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and the dubious hand of Attorney-General Virginia Mabiza. None of that makes it legal. It only makes the corruption loud.

At the centre is a $100 million plan to hand over a key public bank to a private entity with a hidden face, all in exchange for a so-called $6 billion loan to government. This was pushed without the right procedures. It is theft from the people. It is the looting of a bank that belongs to the nation, not to a few men in dark rooms.

Zimbabwean law is clear. The sale of a public asset must follow strict steps that protect the public interest. The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act [Chapter 22:23] sets out how this must be done. There must be a shareholders’ agreement. There must be board approval. There must be an open and transparent tender. None of these safeguards were respected here. They were ignored on purpose to rush a dirty deal.

A shareholders’ agreement is not a small paper. It tells us how big decisions are made and who has the power to make them. Yet here it seems to be missing. The board of directors, who should have weighed the risks and voted, was bypassed. The law was treated like an obstacle, not a guide. Zimbabweans were denied their right to see a clean, public process.

We have institutions for a reason. The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) is there to make sure procurement is fair, honest, and cost-effective. There is even a Special Procurement Oversight Committee to keep watch over major public deals. But Mnangagwa and his circle ploughed ahead as if the law is a suggestion and the people do not matter. This is rule by decree, not rule of law.

Selling POSB without competitive bidding tells the whole truth. This was never about value or the public good. It looks like money laundering dressed up as “investment,” designed to feed a small elite while millions of Zimbabweans suffer. The law demands competition so the country gets the best deal. The regime rejected competition because sunlight kills corruption.

Who is HIG? Who owns it? Where is its track record? How did it become the “ideal” buyer of a people’s bank? We have heard these sounds before. They are the same sounds we hear when national assets are quietly pushed into private pockets linked to power. It is the old ZANU PF playbook: secrecy, speed, and silence for the public.

This scandal is a clear message: ZANU PF does not care about legality, transparency, or our future. It lives on looting. Mnangagwa’s push to force this sale proves he is no reformer. He is guarding the same rotten system that has broken Zimbabwe for decades.

We must say no. We must demand accountability in courts, in parliament, in the streets, and online. National assets are not playthings. POSB must not be sold through the back door. Stop the heist. Investigate every signature. Publish every letter. Punish every hand that broke the law. Zimbabweans deserve leaders who protect what is ours. Our future depends on our courage today. Let us stand together and end this never-ending plunder of our country’s resources.