Wicknell Chivayo, a businessman close to Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party, died among six people when a helicopter crashed in the Marondera rural area east of Harare on Wednesday. The crash puts a party-connected figure’s conspicuous wealth and government business under a brighter spotlight, while police haven’t confirmed the victims’ identities.
Family spokesperson Herbert Chivayo told state broadcaster ZBC: “When it crashed, it burst into flames.” He also said: “There were five people. There were two pilots, his security aide, the wife and Chivayo.” Police said six people were aboard. The accounts left that discrepancy unresolved.
Police said the helicopter crashed about 72km (45 miles) east of Harare, at around 1500 GMT. It had left the family home in Gandami, about 144 km (89 miles) from Harare. The report gave no cause for the crash.
The party ties behind the fortune
Chivayo, 43, stood out among conspicuously wealthy businessmen with ties to ZANU-PF, which has held power in the mineral-rich country since independence in 1980. His social-media displays of wealth and high-profile gifts made him a public figure. Those lavish lifestyles stood in sharp contrast with widespread economic hardship.
Weeks before the crash, Chivayo donated a Rolls-Royce, a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon and a Maybach to a Zimbabwean preacher and the preacher’s wife. He had also given another church $2 million in cash, buses and cars. At the ceremony, cameras filmed him displaying bundles of banknotes.
Chivayo spent three years in jail around two decades ago after a money-laundering conviction. He also had connections with leaders of Ewastini, Kenya and Uganda. His ties with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF fuelled cynicism, as the wealth of party-connected businessmen contrasted with hardship across the country.
A government contract under scrutiny
Chivayo’s company, Intratrek Zimbabwe, won a more than $170 million government contract in 2015 to build a 100-megawatt solar plant in Gwanda, in the southwest. The state-run power utility later sought to terminate the deal because of delays. The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the contract was valid, and the government ordered last month that it should proceed.
The reported terms link a private contractor to state power: the government awarded the contract, the state-run utility sought to end it over delays, and the Supreme Court upheld its validity. The government then ordered the project to proceed. The report doesn’t say the solar contract had any connection to the helicopter crash.
Authorities confirm the deaths
Government spokesman Nick Mangwana wrote on X: “The government wishes to confirm that a helicopter crash has occurred, involving one high-profile businessman, three other passengers, and two pilots.” He added: “Current information indicates that there were no survivors in this crash.” Mangwana said police would confirm the victims’ identities in due course.
Police also said six people were aboard but didn’t immediately confirm their identities. The accounts therefore leave the official identification process and the difference between the family spokesperson’s count and the police count unresolved. The reported facts place a high-profile businessman, party connections and a major government contract in the same story. Police still need to confirm the victims’ identities.