Chivayo: Tycoon who rubs shoulders with Presidents

Wicknell Chivayo, a 44-year-old Zimbabwean businessman whose Instagram page is a luxury exhibition of private jets, expensive cars and posh Harare homes, is also a convicted fraudster.

His businesses have been built on a foundation of court cases, corruption scandals and tenders that often fail to materialise. 

But despite his criminal past, Chivayo has gained unfettered access to power across the continent. He is a frequent visitor at the State House, often sharing photos with President William Ruto on social media.

He has also been photographed with Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, Samia Suluhu of Tanzania, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, and former Zambia leader Edgar Lungu, among other high-ranking State officials.

Even before the reports of the tender for the expansion and modernisation of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to his firm, IMC Construction Kenya, Chivayo had been causing discomfort.

The government yesterday denied contracting the firm in a joint venture with China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to upgrade JKIA, but the secrecy of the deal cast doubt on Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir's word. 

This year alone, Chivayo has met Ruto on several occasions, including on June 1, during Madaraka Day celebrations, when the two met at the newly built state lodge in Wajir, after which Chivayo posted on social media that he had shared with Ruto his company’s (Intratrek Zimbabwe) plans to invest some $200 million (Sh2.6 billion) in Kenya.

The also met later in State House in Nairobi, after which he claimed to be a Kenyan citizen.

“As a young and ambitious African businessman, and indeed as a Kenyan citizen with a long-term interest in the future of our country and continent, I derive immense confidence from such leadership,” boasted Chivayo in a June 16 post accompanied with photos of him and the president. 

And now, the man and his company are said to have a big stake in the $2.9 billion (approximately Sh375.3 billion) deal to modernise and expand JKIA.

While CRBC, a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned China Communications Construction Company, has global reputation, many have questioned IMC Construction Kenya’s credentials.

Even more puzzling is Chivayo’s past. 

In 2004, he was sentenced to three years in prison for deceiving a South African national that he could multiply money. He served time at the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare.

In March 2011, Zimbabwe's state-controlled newspaper, The Chronicle, reported that Chivayo had allegedly created fictitious websites that unsuspecting clients believed could help them procure goods. The websites would disappear upon receiving payments.

Chivayo's most high-profile scandal involves the controversial $183 million (Sh23.7 billion) Gwanda Solar Power Plant contract. In October 2015, Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), through its then chairperson Stanley Kazhanje, awarded Intratrek a contract to construct a 100-megawatt solar station. About $1.2 million (Sh155.3 million) was paid upfront, but the project remains stalled.

Other deals his firm has won in Zimbabwe include $163 million (Sh21.1 billion) project to revamp Munyati Power Station, which was also never completed, and $131 million (Sh17 billion) for the 30mw Gairezi hydro power station. It also stalled.

In 2019, a High Court in Harare acquitted Chivayo of swindling ZPC of $5.6 million (Sh724.5 million), calling the case "purely civil rather than criminal". 

But in June 2020, the country's Supreme Court reversed the acquittal. The criminal charges were revived two years later.

Chivayo's most recent controversy involves the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission tender for election materials for August 2023 elections. Chivayo, along with Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu, were implicated .

Through a South African company, Ren-Form CC, Chivayo — ZANU PF central committee member — received more than $40 million (Sh5.2 billion) alongside other committee members Chimombe and Mpofu. Over R1.1 billion was paid by Zimbabwe's Treasury to Ren-Form, with over R800 million (approximately $42 million) channeled to companies linked to Chivayo without any services delivered.

A groundbreaking investigation by South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre has uncovered a sprawling money laundering network involving Chivayo, Ren-Form and millions in suspect transactions linked to the election funds.

According to the report, the company received over R1.167 billion (Sh806.2 million) between April, 2023 and May, 2024. Of this amount, R800 million (about $42.7 million) was rapidly transferred to Chivayo-linked entities, including Intratrek Holdings (R56.4 million), Dolintel Trading Enterprise (R8.67 million) and Edenbreeze Pty Ltd (R156 million) .

Chivayo's personal Standard Bank account allegedly received R225.9 million (approximately $12.1 million) via inter-account transfers.  

A report by the BBC last year said the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission launched an investigation following allegations. However, in December last year, closed the investigation, claiming "there is no contract, no paper trail, and no business transaction linking Wicknell Chivayo to ZEC".

In March last year, a leaked document linked Chivayo's company, registered in South African barely seven months earlier, to a US$439 million tender to supply cancer treatment equipment to the Zimbabwean government for four years. 

Still in another criminal case, former Zimbabwe Power Company chairperson Stanley Kazhanje was jailed for three years in September 2019 for receiving $10,000 from Intratrek after Chivayo failed to fulfill contractual obligations.

However, in September, 2021, a magistrate court in Harare acquitted Chivayo on bribe allegations. 

In March 2018, President Mnangagwa vowed to arrest Chivayo, describing him as a "fly-by-night briefcase businessman". However, in February last year, the same President described Chivayo as a "philanthropist".

Chivayo rejects fraud allegations, claiming he is a legitimate businessman with "haters". In May last year, he denied allegations of corruption, money laundering and criminal conduct following leaked financial intelligence reports from Zimbabwe and South Africa.

But questions about his immense wealth, which he doesn't fear to flaunt, abound.

He was recently seen handing out $100 notes to workers at the JKIA during one of his visits. And this is not a unique incident. He is known to give luxury cars and wards of money to friends as well as churches.

Chivayo himself paints his story as one of grass to grace, whereby hardships saw him roll up his sleeves early in life to fend for his family. 

“Due to financial constraints, I had to leave school early to work. I started as a wages clerk for a bus company at just 17, which taught me the value of money and business from a young age. Those difficulties propelled my hunger for success,” he said in a past interview, adding that his fused his business with faith, which was shaped by his early interactions with the church.

“That difficult period led me to the Johane Masowe Chishanu Apostolic Church, where I found my faith and a new purpose…. I rebuilt my life with prayer and determination. I ventured into business, and I found my calling in renewable energy and public infrastructure development.”

He termed his relations with President Ruto as “one of mutual respect between a businessman and a Head of State, whom I now take as a father, owing to his wisdom and guidance on various issues of mutual interest”. 

He also said that his firms have won lucrative contracts through competitive bidding and tender processes,“and by partnering with experienced engineering companies”, further saying that “the narrative of preferential treatment is a political tool used mostly by those in the opposition parties who normally criticise everything”.

He also claims that the charges that have been leveled against him have been witch hunt, noting that the cases yielded acquittals.