Bona Grabs Top EmpowerBank Post – Eduzim News

By Business Reporter-The Emmerson Mnangagwa administration has appointed Bona Mugabe, the deputy chairperson of the EmpowerBank board.

The appointment was announced following the selection of a seven-member board by the Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training, Tino Machakaire.

According to Statutory Instrument 132 of 2026, issued by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Solomon Mhlanga, the board members will serve a four-year term in line with provisions of the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act.

The new board will be chaired by Mr William Chaitezvi, with Bona serving as deputy chairperson. Other members include Mrs Margaret Mupfiga, Mr Patience Matshe, Mr Ebrahim Ali Makunganya, Mr Marcos Nyaruwanga and Mr Peter Makotsi.

Bona , is the only daughter of the late Zimbabwean leader. She holds a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Hong Kong, where she studied between 2011 and 2014 while her father was still in power.

During her time in Hong Kong she largely stayed away from Zimbabwean politics, although her education abroad drew public attention given her father’s long rule and the economic challenges facing Zimbabwe at the time.

She later married aviation engineer Simba Chikore in 2014 in a high-profile wedding attended by senior Zanu PF officials and foreign dignitaries.

The appointment comes nearly a decade after Robert Mugabe’s removal from office during the 2017 military intervention, widely described by analysts as a coup.

In November 2017 the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, led by then army commander Constantino Chiwenga, placed Mugabe under house arrest and seized control of key state institutions.

The military operation, dubbed 2017 Zimbabwean coup d’état, paved the way for Mugabe’s long-time ally and then vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa to take power after Mugabe was forced to resign following nearly four decades in office.

Relations between the Mugabe family and the new administration quickly deteriorated. Mugabe himself publicly accused Mnangagwa and the military of betraying him and overthrowing a constitutionally elected government.

Since Mugabe’s death in 2019, the Mnangagwa government has made intermittent attempts to mend relations with the Mugabe family, including state engagements over the former leader’s burial and recognition of his legacy.

Political analysts say the appointment of Bona to a government-linked financial institution could be interpreted as part of broader efforts by the ruling ZANU‑PF to signal reconciliation with the Mugabe family — despite the bitter political rupture that followed the 2017 military takeover.

EmpowerBank is a state-owned financial institution tasked with providing loans and financial services aimed at supporting youth empowerment and entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe.

Bona’s appointment places Mugabe’s daughter within the governance structure of one of the government’s youth financing institutions at a time when the ruling party is seeking to consolidate political support ahead of future electoral contests.

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