Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has confirmed the death of businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his wife in a helicopter crash, calling the high-rollers with a lavish lifestyle “consummately philanthropic.”
The family of Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo and President Emmerson Mnangagwa have confirmed reports that he and his wife Lucy Muteke were involved in a fatal helicopter crash southeast of Harare on Wednesday evening.
Family spokesperson Herbert Chivayo told state broadcaster ZBC that the 43-year-old tycoon and his wife were killed in the crash, saying, “We are at a loss for words after the tragic news.”
President Mnangagwa said the sudden and unexpected deaths “left our nation, my family, and me personally numbed and in deep shock and grief.”
Chivayo was a prominent supporter of Mnangagwa who had secured a series of lucrative government contracts and was known for his lavish lifestyle and often-ostentatious gifts to allies and associates.
What do we know about the crash?
The helicopter crashed with six people on board in the rural Marondera district of Zimbabwe, not far southeast of Harare. There were no survivors.
Initially, as reports circulated that Chivayo was on board, a government spokesman said only that a “high-profile businessman” was one of four passengers. Police also said that they were conducting DNA tests and conducting other checks to confirm the identities of the victims, whose remains had been burned in a fire.
Mnangagwa published a tribute to Chivayo and his family the following day online.
“We are all shattered by this unexpected, sudden demise of so young a family,” he wrote. “Consummately philanthropic, the Chivayo Family touches so many lives in our nation through its countless acts of charity and generosity which ran into millions of dollars, and which motivated and transformed countless lives.”
“Tellingly, the Chivayos lost their lives on their way back from Gandami in rural Chikomba where they were putting up modern family and community structures, all in line with our policy on rural development through investments, industrialization, development and transformation,” Mnangagwa wrote.
Who was Wicknell Chivayo?
Chivayo cultivated close ties both with Mnangagwa and the ruling ZANU-PF party, but also with other African leaders, including South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan, Eswatini’s King Mswati III, and Kenyan President William Ruto.
“Wicknell was a dear friend whose warmth touched many people. I will remember him for his friendship, his energy and his deep conviction in the possibilities of our continent,” Ruto wrote in a tribute online.
Going by the handle “Sir Wicknell” in his social media persona, Chivayo would often post images of himself with Zimbabwean and African leaders. He was also known for a lavish lifestyle with luxury cars, designer clothing, and often for giving high-value gifts to associates, business partners, religious leaders, or even social media followers voicing support for him or for Mnangagwa.
Critics would often point to these close ties and to Chivayo as a case study of Zimbabwe’s small elite class benefitting from large government contracts in a country with estimated median wages of less than US $5 per day.
Chivayo always denied allegations of corruption but faced several legal investigations that never resulted in convictions, starting with a 2005 money laundering case. He was arrested in 2018 in connection with the alleged misuse of a large advance payment tied to a solar power project, but five years later a judge dismissed the case, citing delays by prosecutors.
“His generous hand cut across sectors and reached many individuals: in politics, religion, public service, culture, sport and many different professions,” Mnangagwa said of Chivayo.
“The late Wicknell Chivayo had a grand vision for his family, for our country, for the Southern African subregion and for our African continent.”
Edited by: Zac Crellin
DW News
