Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, were among six people killed Wednesday when a helicopter crashed in the Marondera rural area east of Harare, state broadcaster ZBC reported. Police said the crash happened about 72km (45 miles) east of the capital, at around 1500 GMT. The aircraft had taken off from the family home in Gandami, about 144 km (89 miles) from Harare.
What Officials Have Confirmed
Family spokesperson Herbert Chivayo confirmed the couple’s deaths to ZBC. “When it crashed, it burst into flames,” he said. He described those aboard: “There were five people. There were two pilots, his security aide, the wife and Chivayo.”
That count doesn’t match the official one. Police said in a statement on X that six people were aboard, but they didn’t immediately confirm who the victims were. Government spokesman Nick Mangwana wrote on X that the crash involved “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 identities in due course.
Five or six? Investigators face that question first.
A Fortune Built Close to the Ruling Party
Chivayo, 43, was a tycoon close to the ruling ZANU-PF party, and a prominent figure among conspicuously wealthy businessmen with ties to it. His social media displays of wealth, along with high-profile gifts of luxury cars, cash and other items, raised his public profile.
The giving continued in recent weeks. Weeks before the crash, he 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 a ceremony where cameras filmed him showing bundles of banknotes.
His past was no secret. 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, which has held power in the mineral-rich country since independence in 1980, had fuelled cynicism. The report said the lavish lifestyles of businessmen close to the ruling party sharply contrasted with widespread economic hardship.
The Public Contract
Public money sat at the center of his business. His company, Intratrek Zimbabwe, won a government contract worth more than $170 million in 2015, 11 years ago, to build a 100-megawatt solar plant in Gwanda, in the southwest. The energy-project contractor faced an effort by the state-run power utility to end the deal over delays.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2023, three years ago, that the contract was valid. Last month, the government ordered it to proceed.
Why This Matters: The crash is first a human tragedy. Six people died, including two pilots and a security aide, and families are grieving. But the facts also raise questions about how public contracts, political connections and private wealth overlap in a country where, according to the report, many people face widespread economic hardship. A contract worth more than $170 million for a solar plant faced a dispute over delays, and the government has just ordered it to proceed. From a center-left view, large state contracts held by politically connected figures call for transparency and independent oversight, because the public pays for them. The crash investigation and conflicting victim counts will test whether Zimbabwe’s institutions can give a clear, credible public account.