Wicknell Chivayo: Detailed Profile of Zimbabwean Businessman Killed in Chopper Crash

• Wicknell Chivayo, founder of Intratrek Zimbabwe and a prominent figure in government infrastructure contracts, died on September 30, 2026
• Months before his death, Chivayo's company secured a stake in the proposed $2.89 billion USD expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
• Chivayo survived multiple legal battles over decades, including fraud and bribery charges that ended in acquittals or dismissals

Wicknell Chivayo, the Zimbabwean businessman and self-styled "Sir Wicknell," died on September 30, 2026, at the age of 43.

He died leaving behind a complex legacy shaped by government contracts, courtroom battles, and lavish public gestures.

Who is Wicknell Chivayo?

Born on November 22, 1982, in the Gandami area of Chivhu, Mashonaland East, Chivayo built his business empire primarily through his flagship firm, Intratrek Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, which secured some of the country's most significant infrastructure tenders.

He had close ties with Kenyan President, William Ruto.

Chivayo's growing footprint in Kenya

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In the months leading up to his death, Chivayo had turned considerable attention towards Kenya. In June 2026, his company IMC Construction Kenya was named as a joint-venture partner in a Chinese-led consortium headed by China Communications Construction Company. The group had secured a role in the planned USD 2.89 billion expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Reports from February 2025 had also placed him regularly within the orbit of Kenyan President William Ruto.

His Zimbabwean operations had previously touched the Kenyan market in an earlier chapter. In 2015, Intratrek Zimbabwe won a contract valued at approximately USD $172 million to build a 100-megawatt solar facility in Gwanda, Matabeleland South. The Zimbabwe Power Company advanced USD $5 million towards the project, but no substantive construction work was ever completed.

A Career Shadowed by Legal Proceedings

Chivayo's professional rise ran parallel to a long series of court appearances. A 2004 conviction for theft by false pretences, connected to a foreign currency transaction, resulted in a three-year sentence at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. He faced fraud and money laundering charges in 2011 across eight counts but was fully acquitted after trial.

The unbuilt Gwanda Solar Project resurfaced in 2018 as the basis for fresh charges over the advance payment. Those proceedings stretched on for years before a magistrate court ruled in 2024 that the state had not established a prima facie case. A separate bribery allegation, which claimed he paid USD 10,000 to a former Zimbabwe Power Company board chairman to influence the solar tender, was similarly dismissed.

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In 2024, leaked audio recordings linked Chivayo and associates to a USD 100 million contract for election materials supplied to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission ahead of the 2023 general elections. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission wrapped up its investigation in December 2025, concluding it had found no evidence directly connecting him to the deal.

Beyond his business dealings, Chivayo attracted public attention for spending over USD 9.3 million on luxury cars and gifts within a single year, with recipients ranging from broadcasters and musicians to football clubs and branches of Zimbabwe's security forces.

He is survived by two children from his first marriage to Sonja Madzikanda, which ended in divorce in 2024, and his second wife, Lucy Muteke, whom he married in March 2025.

Source: YEN.com.gh