By Lovemore Lubinda
HARARE-(MaraviPost)-Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has reportedly arrived in Harare to pay her last respects to the late controversial Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo, ahead of his burial scheduled for Thursday.
Chivayo, 43, his wife Lucy Muteke and three others died on Wednesday, September 30, when their helicopter crashed in Marondera, about 70km east of Harare.
Police and the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe say investigations into the crash are ongoing.
President Suluhu, who had earlier mourned Chivayo as a “young and visionary entrepreneur” in a condolence message posted on X, is said to have arrived at Chivayo’s Gletwin mansion in Harare where funeral proceedings are underway.
Veteran Zimbabwean investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, citing state security agents at the residence, reports that a complete media blackout has been imposed at the property.
“Cameras and mobile phones are not being allowed, and there is a complete media blackout, according to state security agents at the residence,” Chin’ono said.
There has been no official confirmation yet from the Tanzanian State House or Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Information regarding President Suluhu’s travel to Harare.
Chivayo, who was granted provincial hero status by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, was known for his close relationships with several African presidents including Suluhu, Kenya’s William Ruto, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu. In recent months he shared photographs of himself with President Suluhu at State House in Tanzania, referring to her affectionately as “mother.”
The Chivayo and Muteke families have confirmed that the couple will be buried at Glen Forest Memorial Park Cemetery in Harare on Thursday, October 8, next to Chivayo’s mother Canisia.
The family says there will be no public viewing of the bodies due to the condition of the remains.
Prominent musicians, church leaders, senior government officials and business figures have continued to gather at the Gletwin residence.
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