By Business Reporter –Convicted fraudster and controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo on Friday stirred fresh outrage after slipping into the limelight alongside President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Mozambican President Daniel Chapo during the official opening of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo.
President Mnangagwa, accompanied by Chapo—this year’s guest of honour—arrived at the 65th edition of Zimbabwe’s premier trade showcase to much fanfare.
Yet it was Chivayo’s conspicuous presence, riding in the presidential motorcade and positioning himself close to the two leaders, that overshadowed the day’s proceedings and reignited fierce debate over the country’s entrenched culture of cronyism and elite impunity.
In a moment heavy with symbolism, a trade event meant to promote transparency and honest enterprise became a stage where a convicted criminal—still under investigation by South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre for allegedly siphoning over R1 billion in public funds—rubbed shoulders with heads of state.
Chivayo’s brazen appearances alongside Zimbabwe’s top leadership have long sparked public outrage, and his performance at ZITF only served to confirm growing fears of state capture. His prominent display, broadcast across social and mainstream media, was not merely a case of poor optics—it sent a chilling message about the true nature of political power in Zimbabwe today.
Once again, Chivayo, popularly known as “Sir Wicknell” on social media, leveraged a national event to bolster his image.
This is hardly new: the businessman has built a career out of exploiting photo opportunities with presidents and other high-ranking officials to project influence and shield himself from accountability.
Chivayo first rose to notoriety after controversially winning multi-million-dollar government tenders—despite lacking the technical expertise to deliver.
Among his most infamous projects is the $173 million Gwanda Solar Project awarded to his company, Intratrek Zimbabwe, which remains incomplete nearly a decade later. Despite minimal progress, Chivayo pocketed large sums in advance payments, triggering a scathing audit report and parliamentary inquiries.
Over the years, he has been implicated in a series of questionable deals, including supplying ballot papers to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and securing a staggering USD $627 million tender for road construction projects, despite his troubled track record.
While Mnangagwa’s administration has publicly distanced itself from Chivayo, their repeated public interactions—including private photos at State House and coordinated appearances at major events—have deepened public scepticism.
Denials of formal ties ring increasingly hollow when images of Chivayo riding in official convoys or mingling freely with heads of state continue to surface.
Despite facing numerous criminal investigations—including allegations of money laundering and fraud—Chivayo’sfortunes have only grown.
His social media pages are a shrine to excess: fleets of luxury vehicles, designer labels, and boasts of gifting friends and followers with cash—all in sharp contrast to the daily struggles of ordinary Zimbabweans battling soaring inflation, poor health care, and mass unemployment.
His appearance at the ZITF, surrounded by foreign dignitaries and captains of industry, projects a troubling image: in Zimbabwe’s fractured political economy, it is not business acumen or accountability that wins contracts and influence—it is proximity to political power.
As Zimbabwe seeks to attract foreign investors and revive its battered economy, Chivayo’s unchecked rise serves as a cautionary tale.
It reminds the world that the country’s most lucrative opportunities are often not awarded based on merit, but on connections—at a heavy cost to its credibility, stability, and future prosperity.
Chivayo’s performance at ZITF was not just another photo opportunity; it was a brutal reminder of a political order where corruption is rewarded, accountability is hollow, and the national interest is routinely sacrificed on the altar of personal enrichment.