He gave away luxury cars and hundreds of thousands of dollars, cultivated friendships with presidents and spent years fighting legal battles over a US$172 million solar project. On Wednesday evening, Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy “Lulu” Muteke, were killed when their helicopter crashed in rural Marondera.
Wicknell Chivayo’s Final Flight: From Presidential Circles to a Fatal Marondera Crash
HARARE, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy “Lulu” Muteke, were killed on Wednesday evening when a helicopter crashed in rural Marondera, bringing to an abrupt end the life of one of the country’s most conspicuous and controversial business figures.
The aircraft crashed at about 5pm in Marondera Rural, Mashonaland East, according to police and government officials. Police said six people were aboard and that there were no survivors. The family later confirmed that Chivayo and Muteke were among those killed.
The cause of the crash had not been established by Thursday morning, and authorities were still working to identify the other victims.
Government spokesperson Nick Mangwana said the helicopter was carrying a high-profile businessman, three other passengers and two pilots.
“The Government wishes to confirm that a helicopter crash has occurred, involving one high-profile businessman, three other passengers, and two pilots,” Mangwana said.
“Current information indicates that there were no survivors in this crash.”
Police national spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi separately confirmed that six people were aboard the aircraft and said investigators were attending the scene.
The final flight
Chivayo and Muteke were reportedly travelling from the couple’s property in the Gandami area of Chikomba when the helicopter came down near a farm in the Marondera district.
The family had been developing a rural home in the area, according to reports. Chivayo was born and raised in the broader Chivhu area of Mashonaland East.
The crash happened roughly 5pm, with emergency personnel dispatched to the scene. Police said the aircraft caught fire, complicating the identification of those on board.
Herbert Chivayo, the family’s spokesperson, confirmed the deaths to ZBC.
“Yes, we confirm that Wicknell Chivayo and his wife have perished in this tragedy,” he said.
The identities of the remaining victims had not been formally released by police at the time of publication.
The conflicting early accounts over the number and composition of the passengers underline how little was initially known about the flight. Police’s official figure was six occupants, while the government’s first account identified four passengers and two pilots. Investigators are expected to establish the aircraft’s registration, operator, flight plan and the circumstances leading to the crash.
A businessman who made his wealth highly visible
Chivayo, 43, became one of Zimbabwe’s most recognisable businessmen through a combination of state-linked construction projects, high-profile political connections and conspicuous displays of wealth.
He was closely associated with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and frequently posted photographs and videos of meetings with senior political figures and other prominent personalities.
His public profile extended beyond Zimbabwe.
Kenyan President William Ruto described Chivayo as a “dear friend” in a condolence message following the crash.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic passing of my friend, Wicknell Chivayo, together with his wife, Lucy Muteke, and the other lives lost in the helicopter crash in Zimbabwe,” Ruto said.
“Wicknell was a dear friend whose warmth touched many people.”
Chivayo’s business interests had also expanded into Kenya. In June 2026, his company, IMC Construction Kenya, was reported as part of a joint venture with China’s China Communications Construction Company in a proposed US$2.9 billion redevelopment of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
From a 2004 conviction to Intratrek
Chivayo’s business career was preceded by a criminal conviction.
In 2004, he was convicted of theft by false pretences in connection with a foreign-currency transaction and sentenced to three years in prison. Contemporary court reporting records the disputed transaction as involving R837,000.
His name became much more widely known through Intratrek Zimbabwe and the Gwanda Solar Project.
In 2015, Intratrek secured a contract to build a 100MW solar power plant in Gwanda, Matabeleland South. The project was initially valued at about US$172 million.
Zimbabwe Power Company paid Intratrek an advance of several million dollars, after which the project became the subject of parliamentary scrutiny and criminal proceedings. Parliament later examined concerns around payments, progress and the state of the project site.
Chivayo was arrested in 2018 and charged in connection with the project.
The legal history is more complicated than a simple account of an acquittal.
The High Court quashed the charges in 2019, but the Supreme Court overturned that decision in 2020 and ordered that the criminal proceedings continue. The Supreme Court judgment records that the charges included fraud and contraventions of exchange-control requirements relating to the Gwanda contract.
The criminal proceedings eventually ended with Chivayo and Intratrek being acquitted after the state failed to establish a prima facie case. A separate bribery case involving former Zimbabwe Power Company board chairman Stanley Kazhanje also ended in acquittal.
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The Gwanda project itself did not disappear with the criminal case.
In March 2025, Energy and Power Development Minister July Moyo told Parliament that government and Intratrek were working on a revised contract and updated feasibility study to revive the 100MW project. The revised arrangement reflected changes in solar technology, costs and infrastructure since the original contract.
That meant one of the defining business controversies of Chivayo’s career remained active right up to the year of his death.
The election-contract controversy
Chivayo was also drawn into controversy over Zimbabwe’s 2023 election procurement.
Leaked recordings and documents prompted allegations that he was connected to a more than US$100 million contract involving election materials supplied by South African company Ren-Form to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
Chivayo denied wrongdoing.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission investigated the matter and announced in December 2025 that it had found no evidence linking Chivayo or ZEC to procurement fraud and no contractual evidence connecting Chivayo to the transaction.
That finding should be distinguished from separate reporting by investigative organisations. Open Secrets and The Sentry reported on financial flows involving Ren-Form and Chivayo-linked accounts and said their findings raised further questions about the transaction. Those organisations’ findings and ZACC’s conclusion are not the same thing and should not be presented as equivalent determinations.
Chivayo’s relationships with political leaders were a recurring feature of his public persona.
He openly supported Mnangagwa and became a vocal participant in debates within the ruling ZANU-PF establishment. His public exchanges with senior politicians, including Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, attracted considerable attention.
At the same time, his proximity to political figures became part of the wider scrutiny surrounding his business dealings.
Those relationships did not by themselves establish wrongdoing, but they were central to the public interest surrounding his rise and the questions repeatedly raised about how politically connected businessmen access major state-linked opportunities.
The gifts that became part of his brand
Perhaps nothing made Chivayo more recognisable to ordinary Zimbabweans than his extraordinary public gifting.
He regularly announced cash donations and luxury vehicles for musicians, religious leaders, public figures and individuals who attracted his attention online.
In August 2026, United Family International Church founder Emmanuel Makandiwa publicly displayed US$1 million donated by Chivayo for the church’s development. Chivayo also announced luxury vehicles for Makandiwa and his wife.
In September, Chivayo offered Prophet Uebert Angel US$250,000 as birthday “lunch money” and announced a 2026 Rolls-Royce Ghost for Angel’s wife. Angel later confirmed receiving the cash and additional funds for fuel.
Chivayo also announced a Rolls-Royce Cullinan and US$250,000 for Zion Christian Church leader Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi in September.
The scale of the gifts made his social-media accounts an important part of his public image, while also prompting debate over the sources of his wealth and the relationships surrounding his philanthropy.
Chivayo married Lucy Muteke in March 2025.
The couple appeared together regularly in photographs and social-media posts, although Muteke maintained a considerably lower public profile than her husband.
Her death alongside Chivayo means that a marriage that had lasted only about 18 months has ended in the same tragedy that has now raised questions about the final journey of the businessman.
The unanswered questions
Chivayo’s death leaves investigators with a straightforward but significant task: establish what happened to the helicopter between take-off and the crash.
The aircraft’s registration, operator, maintenance history, flight plan and weather conditions will form part of the investigation into the cause of the accident.
For now, authorities have confirmed the central facts: a helicopter crashed in rural Marondera at about 5pm on 30 September, six people were aboard, there were no survivors, and Wicknell Chivayo and Lucy Muteke were among those killed.
The rest of Chivayo’s story is more complicated.
It includes a 2004 criminal conviction, years of court battles, a US$172 million solar project that remained unfinished for years, investigations that ended without findings against him, close relationships with powerful political figures and a public culture of extraordinary giving.
His death closes the personal chapter of that story.
The questions surrounding his business career, the Gwanda project and now the circumstances of the crash remain matters for the courts, investigators and public records rather than conclusions that can be drawn from his death.
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