POSB ordered to ‘open vaults’ to Mnangagwa’s handpicked new investors

HARARE
–
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
has
ordered
the
sale
of
the
People’s
Own
Savings
Bank
(POSB)
to
a
consortium
fronted
by
Zanu
PF-supporting
cleric
Morris
Brown
Gwedegwe,
against
advice
from
the
Zimbabwe
Investment
and
Development
Agency
which
questioned
the
source
of
funds
for
his
Hebrew
Investment
Group,
ZimLive
can
reveal.

The
POSB,
now
under
the
Mutapa
Investment
Fund,
is
one
of
at
least
eight
loss-making
parastatals
the
government
has
put
up
for
sale.

Instead
of
a
public
process
to
invite
bids
for
POSB,
Mnangagwa
–
through
attorney
general
Virginia
Mabiza
–
handpicked
Hebrew
Investment
Group
as
the
investment
partner.

Under
the
terms
of
the
deal,
Hebrew
Investment
Group
will
take
up
70
percent
shareholding
in
POSB
by
contributing
US$70
million
of
the
US$100
million
required
to
capitalise
the
bank.

The
government
of
Zimbabwe
will
remain
with
a
10
percent
stake
financed
through
existing
POSB
assets
while
the
other
$20
million
for
a
20
percent
stake
will
come
from
private
individuals.

A
joint
venture
agreement
signed
between
Mabiza
and
Hebrew
Investment
Group
CEO
Professor
Emile
Kue
on
December
18,
2024,
also
says
Hebrew
Investment
Group
will
advance
the
government
of
Zimbabwe
a
US$6
billion
loan
to
be
repayed
over
30
years.

The
loan
will
attract
interest
of
0.3
percent
per
annum
and
it
is
to
be
repaid
through
the
government’s
dividends
from
its
POSB
shareholding.

ZimLive
understands
ZIDA
questioned
the
company’s
source
of
funds
and
tried
to
stall
the
signing
of
the
joint
venture
agreement,
but
Mnangagwa
and
Mabiza
railroaded
it
through.

In
a
February
13,
2025,
letter
to
the
POSB
CEO
and
board,
Mabiza
introduced
Hebrew
Investment
Group
as
“our
joint
venture
partners
with
the
government
of
Zimbabwe
in
support
of
President
E.D.
Mnangagwa’s
socio-economic
development
plan.”

Mabiza
said
Hebrew
Investment
Group
representatives
Gwedegwe,
CEO
Kue
and
the
company’s
vice
president
Professor
Israel
Kodiaga
would
visit
POSB
on
a
familiarisation
tour.

She
directed
POSB
to,
among
other
things,
allow
for
a
“first
hand
examination
of
the
bank’s
vaults
which
are
intended
to
be
used
for
direct
monetisation
by
the
Hebrew
Investment
Group.”

Gwedegwe
is
a
former
Anglican
bishop
kicked
out
of
the
church
over
alleged
embezzlement
of
funds.
He
was
sworn
in
as
a
member
of
the
Zimbabwe
Defence
Commission
by
Mnangagwa
in
May
2019.

Last
year,
the
Zimbabwe
Council
of
Churches
disassociated
itself
from
Gwedegwe
after
he
attended
the
Zanu
PF
annual
conference
in
Bulawayo
claiming
to
be
representing
the
council.

Not
much
is
known
about
Professor
Emile
Kue.
A
native
of
Ethiopia,
he
is
described
online
as
the
president
of
the
National
Association
of
Hebrews
in
the
United
States,
based
in
Texas.

A
website
under
development
also
links
him
to
a
“Proposed
Hebrew
Federal
Credit
Union…
designed
to
control
the
US$1.9
trillion
spending
power
of
the
black
community
in
the
United
States
for
the
future
of
the
next
generation.”

Professor
Kodiaga,
meanwhile,
is
a
Kenyan
national
who
says
on
his
LinkedIn
that
he
is
the
director
general
of
African
affairs
at
Global
Unification
International
based
in
Queensland,
Australia.

He
says
he
provides
“leadership,
co-coordinating
research,
training
and
consultancy
on
African
governance,
peace
and
security
architecture”
in
the
role.

A
Google
search
for
“Hebrew
Investment
Group”
yielded
no
results.

Social
activist
Jealousy
Mawarire
claims
the
new
POSB
investors
are
“bogus”
and
says
Mnangagwa’s
role
in
the
transaction
smacks
of
corruption.

“One
guy
is
a
bogus
investor
in
the
United
States
(Prof
Kue)
who
set
up
Twitter
and
Facebook
accounts
in
2020
which
are
inactive,
and
he
gets
a
presidential
directive
written
in
his
name
and
bank
vaults
are
opened
to
criminals,”
Mawarire
said
in
an
interview
with
HStv

“The
president
has
a
finance
minister,
but
he
instructs
the
establishment
of
parallel
structures.

“If
the
president
did
not
apply
his
mind
before
authorising
this
transaction,
it
speaks
volumes
of
his
cognitive
state.
It
means
he
is
no
longer
fit
for
office.”

Questions
left
for
attorney
general
Mabiza
had
not
been
answered.