By Ziyah News Reporter
On Monday, 4 May 2026, former Cabinet Minister Walter Mzembi was granted US$1,000 bail by the High Court in Harare.
His release comes after nearly a year in remand prison following his surprise return to Zimbabwe in mid-2025.
The Bail Ruling Justice Benjamin Chikowero allowed Mzembi’s application for bail pending judgment in his long-running criminal abuse of office case.
The court is expected to deliver its final ruling on 23 May 2026.
Under his strict bail conditions, Mzembi must, deposit US$1,000 with the Registrar of the High Court. Surrender his passport. Reside at his home in Wilmington Park, Harare. Remain within a 30-kilometre radius of the High Court.
The Arrest and ChargesMzembi was arrested on 13 June 2025 by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) shortly after returning to the country from years of exile in South Africa and Zambia.
His return followed reports of a meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, but he was immediately detained on outstanding warrants from 2018.
The charges against him stem from his tenure as the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
Allegations that he unlawfully donated 16 LED television screens, worth roughly US$800,000, to several churches (including those of Walter Magaya and Emmanuel Makandiwa) without Treasury approval.
These screens were originally purchased for public-viewing fan parks during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Allegations of misappropriating approximately US$1.6 million meant for the 2013 United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia.
A Seven-Year Legal Battle Mzembi was first arrested in January 2018 following the military-assisted transition that ended Robert Mugabe’s presidency.
He was granted bail but skipped the country later that year, claiming he needed life-threatening surgery for rectal cancer in South Africa.
For nearly seven years, the State considered him a fugitive and sought his extradition.
Upon his return in 2025, a magistrate revoked his previous bail, finding him in “wilful default” despite his legal team’s presentation of medical records as justification for his absence.
He spent the subsequent 325 days in remand prison while his trial progressed.
Mzembi has consistently denied the charges, maintaining that the equipment donations were part of an approved government strategy to promote religious tourism and were not personal decisions.