HARARE-(MaraviPost)-Wicknell Munodaani Chivayo, also known as Sir Wicknell, was born 22 November 1982 in Chivhu, Mashonaland East, and raised in the Gandami area after losing his father Isaac Mathias Chivayo in a car accident when he was 10.
His own telling of his early life was that he left school in 1996 and by age 15 was working as a wages clerk for a bus company, before moving into foreign currency trading in Harare. That hustle became the foundation myth his supporters cited.
First Conviction and Prison
In 2004, Chivayo was convicted of fraud and money laundering involving a South African national and sentenced to three years at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. Other records list the conviction as theft and illegal foreign currency exchange. He served between 2004 and 2006.
After release, he founded Intratrek Zimbabwe (Private) Limited in 2008, an engineering, procurement and construction firm that became the flagship of his empire.
The Gwanda Solar Project – The Contract That Defined Him
In 2015, Intratrek was awarded a tender by the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) to build a 100-megawatt solar power plant in Gwanda. Value was put at $172-173 million.
ZPC paid Intratrek a $5 million advance for pre-commencement works — feasibility studies, surveys, site clearance and fencing — without Intratrek providing a bank guarantee as required under the contract.
On the ground, little appeared. ZESA CEO Josh Chifamba told Parliament the company had cleared only 75-80 hectares out of 200. The project missed its 2017 deadline, with government estimating a $50 million revenue loss.
ZPC managing director Noah Gwariro was suspended. The National Economic Conduct Inspectorate ordered Chivayo to produce all contracts and bank statements.
What followed was a decade of legal war. ZPC terminated the contract in 2018 and reported Chivayo for fraud. He argued the money was used for legitimate work. The case went from magistrates court to the High Court and Supreme Court.
In January 2023 the High Court ruled the contract remained valid, and in December 2023 the Supreme Court dismissed ZPC’s appeal. In a separate criminal case, Chivayo was acquitted after a magistrate found prosecution had been unreasonably delayed. A separate bribery allegation that he paid $10,000 to a former ZPC board chairman was also dismissed.
Despite acquittal, the project remained a barren field. In September 2026, ZPC issued Intratrek a formal Notice to Proceed to complete the plant within 24 months, with a reduced value of $132 million.
The ZEC $100 Million Leak
A second major scandal erupted in 2024. Leaked audio recordings linked Chivayo to a $100 million contract for election materials to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) ahead of the 2023 elections, allegedly through South African firm Ren-Form, with claims of inflated prices for ballot papers.
ZACC investigated and in December 2025 announced it found no evidence directly linking Chivayo. South Africa’s Hawks said its parallel money-laundering probe remained active into 2026.
The Personal Life and $5 Million Divorce
Chivayo’s personal life was as public as his business.
In July 2017, he paid lobola for Sonja Louise Madzikanda — an accountant educated at Kuwait English School, Midlands State University and University of Edinburgh (MA Business & Accounting), who had worked at Goldman Sachs and Ernst & Young. She was 25 at the time. They had two children: John Chenjera Chivayo and Atarah Minana Chivayo.
The marriage broke down in 2024. Madzikanda announced the divorce on social media, then filed for $25 million, a share of businesses, a house and a private jet, claiming a valid customary marriage. Chivayo denied they were ever legally married, saying the union was not registered under the Marriages Act and had been terminated by gupuro, a Shona customary act of dissolution.
The dispute turned acrimonious, with frozen accounts and grounded jets cited in court papers in South Africa.
In a consent order granted by Justice Tsanga on April 2, 2026, the High Court finalised the matter. Primary residence of the children went to Madzikanda. Chivayo was ordered to pay a $5 million lump sum for the children’s maintenance — including $2.8 million within 30 days — plus a house and structured custody with regular access.
Months after the split, in late 2024, Chivayo went public with model and luxury personal shopper Lucy “Lulu” Muteke from Marondera. He married her in March 2025 in a traditional ceremony. Muteke, who had worked with Glow Envy Skincare, generally kept a lower profile but travelled with him to Seychelles and other destinations.
Politics, Presidents and Patronage
Chivayo cultivated proximity to power, frequently posting dinners with President Emmerson Mnangagwa — whom he called his “principal” — Kenyan President William Ruto, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Eswatini’s King Mswati III. King Mswati reportedly granted him citizenship and a diplomatic passport.
His relationship with Ruto was particularly close in 2025-2026, with videos showing Ruto driving him to his helicopter.
In recent years he became known for highly publicised donations. A website tracking his handouts put the value at over $50.3 million. Media found he spent over $9.3 million on luxury cars and gifts within a single twelve-month period, including Land Cruiser 300s for musicians like Jah Prayzah, football club Highlanders ($500,000), churches, journalists, and in December 2025 a $2 million pledge plus 20 Land Cruisers to the welfare funds of the army, police and prisons, which he said was approved by Mnangagwa. In March 2026 he announced a $450,000 Mercedes-Maybach S680 for Zion Christian Church Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi.
His use of money to gain influence caused friction inside ZANU-PF, with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga labelling him and associates — Scott Sakupwanya, Kudakwashe Tagwirei and Delish Nguwaya — zvigananda, a Shona term for rapacious accumulators.
Final Days
No audited record ever confirmed his net worth, though reports put it above $100 million, with claims of 50+ luxury vehicles, watches, private jets and properties in South Africa and Eswatini.
His final Facebook post on the morning of 30 September 2026, titled “APPRECIATING RELATIONSHIPS BUILT OVER DECADES,” announced gifts of a 2026 Lexus GX 550 and Range Rover plus $750,000 cash to his lawyers, and declared “HANDINA DEFEAT” — I have no defeat.
Hours later, he, Muteke, a bodyguard and two pilots died when their helicopter crashed at Kudenga Farm, Marondera, while returning from Gandami Village in Chivhu where he was building a $1 million rural mansion, Kugara Huda Estate, on his family’s 400-hectare farm.
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