BBC Information, Harare
BBCA flashy tycoon in Zimbabwe has a nation entranced – some beguiled, others alarmed – by his behavior of gifting away automobiles together with wads of money to these he deems patriotic – even presenting them to these he has by no means met.
Mercedes-Benzes, Toyota SUVs, Vary Rovers are Wicknell Chivayo’s automobiles of selection for the recipients, who vary from music stars, down-at-heel gospel singers, footballers, church leaders and people loyal to the ruling Zanu-PF get together.
The controversial 44-year-old is himself keen on a white Royals Royce and has a fleet of personalised luxurious automobiles, a few of which he has additionally began gifting away as he will get in newer fashions.
For years “Sir Wicknell”, as he calls himself, has cherished to boast about his riches through Instagram – particulars the tabloids lap up – however whereas he’s open about how he spends his cash, he’s much less so about how he makes it as he faces scrutiny over the supply of his wealth in a rustic the place life is a each day wrestle for most individuals.
Within the final yr or so his social media account has additionally been awash with posts about his donations.
They observe the same sample: a photograph of a gleaming automotive with balloons tied to it – generally with an enormous bow on its bonnet – is accompanied with a message of congratulations to somebody with directions about the place they need to accumulate it, often from one in every of numerous luxurious automotive dealerships he makes use of within the capital, Harare.
“Please GO AND SEE VICTOR at EXQUISITE MOTORS, your model new 2025 Vary Rover Autobiography is FULLY PAID FOR and prepared for assortment,” he instructed prime musician Jah Prayzah final month, including that $150,000 (£111,000) in money was additionally awaiting him there.
“That is only a small token of my gratitude to your IMMENSE contribution to Zimbabwean music and your patriotism in uniting 1000’s of individuals by way of music, preaching PEACE, preaching LOVE and preaching UNITY in each music.”
The quantity of his “public gifting” has turn into virtually frenzied – he even reposts humorous memes about it. On social media, Zanu-PF accounts have been lavishing him in reward, commending his philanthropy.
In personal Sir Wicknell – as everybody is aware of him – has additionally dished out homes and research scholarships to followers of his apostolic church, the Zion Christian Church, recognized for his or her white clothes and worshipping open air.
The softly spoken, heavy-set businessman has come to symbolise Zimbabwe’s rising “flex tradition” – the need to flash one’s wealth in particular person and on-line.
“$hopping and spending cash are simply a few of my hobbies,” he wrote in 2013, when he first began on Instagram, subsequent to a lodge trolley filled with his purchases.
This was adopted not lengthy after by the quip: “Rattling being wealthy is a headache at instances” and a photograph of his huge shoe assortment as he tried to resolve whether or not to put on a pair of Louis Vuittons or Salvatore Ferragamos.
And so it has continued, with holidays to Dubai, New York, Paris, London and enterprise journeys to Johannesburg, Shanghai and New Delhi – and most not too long ago posts about his new personal jet.
He additionally likes to show his proximity to energy – posting photographs of himself with politicians, from Zimbabwe’s late President Robert Mugabe and his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa to, extra not too long ago, different African leaders equivalent to Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan and Kenya’s William Ruto.
“He’s very hands-on along with his companies dealings, very a lot on the bottom and protecting tabs on how each cent is spent,” a businessman, who has beforehand handled Mr Chivayo and requested to stay nameless, instructed the BBC.
“It is clear that he’s politically protected,” he mentioned.
In Cry Havoc, the late British mercenary and coup plotter Simon Mann‘s 2011 memoir of his time incarcerated in Zimbabwe’s Chikurubi Most Jail, the previous British military officer mentioned his “well-educated” fellow inmate Wicknell warned him by no means to criticise Zanu-PF.
The pair had been in the identical cell block – Mann serving 4 years for his function in a failed coup try in Equatorial Guinea in 2004 and Chivayo a few years for fraud.
“In Africa the unsolicited present is massively highly effective,” Mann quoted him as saying – a seemingly prophetic remark.
Between them they paid in cigarettes for the providers of a prisoner, serving 94 years for armed theft, to do their laundry. Mann mentioned Chivayo insisted on referring to him as their “butler”.
AFP/Getty PicturesThe 2 remained mates with Sir Wicknell posting a smiling photograph of them collectively in 2013 – a yr that appears to have been a turning level for him.
It was when, in addition to taking to Instagram, his firm Intratrek Zimbabwe and a Chinese language agency gained a young to construct a solar energy plant price $172.8m.
However the undertaking later grew to become embroiled in fraud allegations – courtroom data a number of years later state that Intratrek had been paid an advance to start work on the 100MW plant in Gwanda however didn’t ship as anticipated to the state-owned Zimbabwe Energy Firm (ZPC).
He in flip sued ZPC for cancelling its contact over the dispute. He gained that case and was later acquitted of all of the felony prices.
Sir Wicknell is media shy, has spoken of his dislike of journalists and politely declined my request for an interview.
However on a uncommon outing on a breakfast radio present final yr, he was requested straight how he made his cash.
In bashful tones, he mentioned his primary enterprise was authorities tenders secured with international companions within the areas of renewable vitality, engineering procurement, building and energy tasks. He mentioned he additionally had companies in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.
Late final yr, his firm IMC Communications was licensed because the accomplice for Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service supplier.
On Instagram, he has been a lot extra brash about his “Midas contact” – saying he’s a “hustler” who works laborious. He additionally attributes his success as a “self-made millionaire” to his humble background rising up Harare’s satellite tv for pc township of Chitungwiza, the place his household struggled after his father died when he was aged 10.
He tends to repost “throw-back” photographs to his late teenagers when by way of a household pal he received a job as a wages clerk at a bus firm. “I bear in mind I used to be the one one my age with a cellphone in Chitungwiza,” he has mentioned about his hard-working ethic.
An avowed Zanu-PF supporter he has beforehand attributed his success to the get together’s empowerment coverage, which was launched in 2013 and compelled all corporations to cede financial management to black Zimbabweans.
Some see him as a profitable instance of this indigenisation coverage, creating a brand new class of black businessmen, however others imagine a few of his wealth is a results of corruption and murky relationships with these in energy – which he vehemently denies.
Questioned in February about Sir Wicknell’s predilection for gifting away automobiles, President Mnangagwa dismissed an accusation that the businessman was appearing as his frontman. “The place would I get the cash to offer him?… You possibly can’t trouble me about somebody who’s philanthropic,” he instructed journalists.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Fee (ZACC) did launch an inquiry final yr after South African investigative non-profit organisation Open Secrets and techniques alleged Chivayo had obtained a windfall of tens of millions of {dollars} because the facilitator of a young to produce election supplies to the Zimbabwe Electoral Fee (Zec) in 2023.
The scandal ballooned when a leaked audio message purportedly of Mr Chivayo speaking concerning the deal additionally appeared to implicate two different businessmen by consoling them for failing to get promised kickbacks, suggesting many extra offers had been within the pipeline as “we now have them in vice-like grip”.
The fallout was spectacular. Zec denied any dealings with Mr Chivayo or the opposite males, all of whom denied the allegations – and a yr on ZACC has not charged anybody.
Mr Chivayo mentioned the audio should have been a deep faux, generated by way of subtle expertise. He additionally apologised to the president for any impression the audio could have created that the primary household was corrupt.
However not lengthy afterwards, the 2 businessmen talked about within the audio had been arrested and charged with misappropriating round $7m in a separate case. They deny the accusations, linked to a presidential goat scheme tender, and have spent virtually a yr in jail ready for the trial to start.
NurPhoto/Getty PicturesThis week there was extra hoo-ha a couple of supposed leak over a doc from March about an alleged $500m contract with Mr Chivayo’s identify listed as a director of an organization to produce most cancers remedy gear to the Zimbabwe authorities for 4 years.
The outrage is over the truth that whether it is true, it didn’t undergo a public tendering course of. The federal government and Mr Chivayo have dismissed the allegations, stating that the so-called contract touted as proof is unsigned.
“For an entire group of opposition outfits to workforce up and make noise about an unsigned FAKE doc is an embarrassing desperation for political relevance,” Mr Chivayo mentioned.
The daddy of two, not lengthy remarried at an elaborate wedding ceremony ceremony with greater than 15,000 friends, has typically mentioned he isn’t all for turning into a politician.
For him it’s all concerning the cash – and he says he’s decided to see off his “haters”. Posing by his jet not too long ago, he wore a tracksuit with a large “B” emblazoned on his tracksuit, saying: “Take observe the ‘B’ is the inevitable billionaire standing coming my method towards all odds.”
However his shut ties with energy, which have allowed him to turn into wealthy, imply he’ll all the time fly near controversy.
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