BULAWAYO — The sun had barely begun to cast its long shadows over the wide, tree-lined avenues of Bulawayo’s Central Business District yesterday when the silence of the morning was shattered. In a city still reeling from a series of audacious high-stakes heists, another chapter of criminal daring was written on Jason Moyo Street, leaving a trail of questions about the safety of the nation’s financial hubs.
Shortly after 7:00 am, a female employee of Mukuru, the prominent money transfer agent, arrived for what she likely expected to be a routine Wednesday shift. As she pulled her vehicle into a parking spot between 8th and 9th Avenue, the mundane act of starting the workday transformed into a nightmare. She was not alone.
According to preliminary investigations released by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the suspects had been lying in wait, their timing calculated with surgical precision. At exactly 7:08 am, as the employee stepped out of her car, she was intercepted. The robbers did not merely demand her belongings; they marched her, under the cold threat of violence, into the very premises she was meant to open.
National police spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi, detailed the chilling efficiency of the operation. “The suspects forcibly escorted her into the offices and ordered her to open the strong room and a Chubb safe,” he stated. Under the overwhelming pressure of the situation, the employee had no choice but to comply. The heavy steel doors of the safe, designed to protect the lifeblood of the business, were swung open to the intruders.
Inside the safe lay a fortune in mixed currency: US$78,141 and R501,820. The total value of the haul was estimated at approximately US$119,220. With practiced haste, the robbers began loading the cash into bags, the rustle of banknotes the only sound in the tense atmosphere of the office.
The criminals were not merely after the money; they were also intent on erasing their tracks. Before making their exit, they systematically disabled the shop’s security measures. Commissioner Nyathi confirmed that the suspects removed a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), which housed the surveillance footage of their faces and movements, along with a panic button that could have summoned help.
“The suspects also removed a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), which stores surveillance footage, and a panic button before escaping through the back door,” Nyathi added. By the time the alarm was finally raised, the perpetrators had vanished into the morning bustle of the city, leaving behind a traumatised employee and an empty safe.
This latest raid is part of a disturbing trend that has seen Bulawayo become a focal point for organised criminal syndicates. Only last year, the city was the site of the most significant cash heist in Zimbabwean history. On October 3, 2024, an Ecobank branch at the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) building was hit in a lightning-fast operation that lasted a mere 149 seconds. In that instance, seven armed men seized three trunks containing a staggering US$4.4 million from a Safeguard cash-in-transit vehicle.
The parallels between the Ecobank job and the Mukuru robbery are difficult to ignore. Both involved precise timing, inside knowledge of cash movements, and a ruthless willingness to use force. In the Ecobank case, the robbers arrived in a white Ford Ranger, armed with AK-47 rifles, and disarmed the security team with brutal efficiency. While two suspects in that case, the Vumbunu brothers, were recently apprehended in South Africa, five others remain at large, highlighting the cross-border nature of these criminal networks.
The Mukuru incident also follows a pattern of attacks on the money transfer agent across the country. Just last month, on February 8, 2026, a three-man gang pounced on a Mukuru agency in the Mabelreign suburb of Harare during a daylight raid. In that incident, the robbers made off with US$5,600 and R26,000. While the Harare suspects were apprehended within minutes due to a rapid police response, the Bulawayo gang appears to have been more successful in their evasion.
Security experts suggest that the recurring nature of these robberies points to a deeper systemic issue. The heavy reliance on physical cash in Zimbabwe’s economy makes institutions like Mukuru and Ecobank prime targets. Despite the presence of armed guards and sophisticated safe systems, the human element—the employees who hold the keys—remains the most vulnerable link in the security chain.
In Bulawayo, the sense of unease is palpable. The CBD, once considered a safe haven for business, is now viewed with a degree of suspicion by those tasked with handling large sums of money. The fact that the robbers knew exactly when the Mukuru employee would arrive and which safe held the bulk of the cash suggests a level of reconnaissance that borders on professional intelligence gathering.
Commissioner Nyathi has reiterated the police’s commitment to bringing the perpetrators to justice, though no arrests had been made by last night. The ZRP has appealed to the public for any information that might lead to a breakthrough. “The police are now appealing to anyone with information that may assist in the investigation to contact the National Complaints Desk on (0242) 703631 or WhatsApp 0712 800 197, or report to any nearest police station,” the official statement read.
As the investigation continues, the focus remains on the “inside job” theory that has plagued many previous heists. In the Ecobank robbery, a security guard was among those arrested, accused of providing the vital information that allowed the gang to strike at the exact moment the cash trunks were being moved. Whether such a betrayal occurred at the Jason Moyo Street Mukuru branch is a question that detectives are now working feverishly to answer.
For the residents of Bulawayo, the sound of a car door closing in the early morning now carries a different weight. The city watches and waits, hoping that the brazen criminals who walked away with US$119,000 will soon find their path blocked by the long arm of the law. Until then, the shadow of the armed robber looms large over the streets of the CBD, a reminder of the fragility of security in an age of high-stakes crime.
The robbery, occurring between 8th and 9th Avenue, serves as a stark reminder of the boldness of modern criminals. They no longer wait for the cover of darkness; instead, they strike when the city is most vulnerable—at the very start of the day, when guards might be less alert and the streets are beginning to fill with the innocent.
As the sun sets on another day in Zimbabwe, the tally of stolen millions continues to grow. From the Gwebi River Bridge robbery in 2021, where US$2.7 million was snatched, to the record-breaking Ecobank heist, and now the Mukuru raid, the message from the underworld is clear. They are organised, they are armed, and they are watching. The question remains: is the law watching them closely enough?
The investigation into the Mukuru robbery remains active, with forensic teams scouring the scene for any evidence the robbers might have missed in their haste to remove the DVR. Every fingerprint, every witness account, and every piece of discarded clothing could be the key to unlocking the mystery of who these men are and where they have hidden the small fortune they carried away in the bags of a terrified employee.
In the corridors of power, the rising tide of armed robberies is being met with calls for increased regional cooperation. The arrest of the Vumbunu brothers in South Africa proves that the criminals do not respect borders, and neither can the police. “Regional and international co-operation founded on joint operations, intelligence sharing and strong and compatible national legislations” are the tools recommended by security experts to curb this growing menace.
For now, the employee at the centre of the storm is left to pick up the pieces of a life interrupted by the barrel of a gun. Her ordeal, lasting only minutes, will likely leave scars that last a lifetime. And as the people of Bulawayo go about their business today, they do so with a cautious eye on the shadows, wondering where the next strike will come from in a city that has seen far too many mornings of terror.
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