The General vs the Mbinga: Inside the ZANU-PF Power Struggle and Chiwenga’s Ice-Cold Final ‘Message’ to Chivayo

Wicknell Chivayo’s lavish funeral brought political leaders and admirers together in Harare. Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga was absent, as a public feud over corruption, money and Zimbabwe’s succession battle returned to the fore.

The funeral of businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, was marked by military honours, a procession of luxury cars and a conspicuous absence. Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga did not attend the service or burial, and no public condolence message from him had been issued by the time the couple were laid to rest on 8 October.

Chivayo and Muteke were buried side by side at Glen Forest Memorial Park in Harare, a week after they died in a helicopter crash. Their coffins were lowered together as a military bugler played. Chivayo had been declared a provincial hero, a status that brought a state-assisted funeral and a two-gun salute. Hundreds lined the route from the couple’s Gletwyn home to the cemetery as a motorcade that included at least 6 Rolls-Royces made its way through the capital.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had called Chivayo a friend, publicly mourned the businessman and praised his generosity. The funeral drew political and business figures, while regional leaders sent tributes. But Chiwenga’s silence became one of its most discussed features.

The contrast was striking because the two men had shared a public connection before their relationship soured. Chivayo had provided luxury cars for Chiwenga’s December 2023 wedding to Miniyothabo Baloyi. Yet when the businessman died, the Vice-President was nowhere in the formal mourning rites.

Political observer Phillan Zamchiya described the funeral as another stage in the ruling party’s succession contest. “Dear Reader, I hear that the mourning of Chivayo is becoming another theatre of the ZANU-PF succession struggle,” he said. The absence, by itself, does not explain Chiwenga’s thinking. But in a party already divided over leadership and corruption, his decision not to appear was read against years of open friction between the two men and their allies.

Chivayo, 45, and Muteke died on 30 September when a Bell 430 helicopter crashed near Kudenga Farm in the Marondera area, about 70 kilometres south-east of Harare. They had left Gandami, in Chikomba district, where they were building a rural home. The aircraft came down about 40 minutes after take-off while travelling towards Marondera. The cause of the crash had not been established by 10 October.

There was a discrepancy in early accounts of how many people were aboard. Government spokesman Nick Mangwana initially said the aircraft carried Chivayo, 4 other passengers and 2 pilots. Police later said there were 5 occupants and identified them as Chivayo, Muteke, security officer Senelisiwe Magagula, pilot Calvin Tafirei Soda and co-pilot Courage Mutavirwa. All those named died. My Zimbabwe News was told that the discrepancy came from Chivayo’s bodyguard, Froster Chisi, who was meant to return to Harare alongside his boss in the same chopper, but ended up travelling in another helicopter.

Authorities said investigators had attended the scene and recovered the wreckage for further examination. Information Minister Zhemu Soda said a preliminary report was expected within 30 days of the accident and would consider the aircraft, weather, maintenance records and information about the operator and crew. Aviation officials said early observations indicated that fuel spilled after impact and caught fire, but they had not determined what caused the helicopter to crash.

The funeral reflected the scale of Chivayo’s public life. He had built a large following through social media posts featuring luxury cars, cash gifts and meetings with political leaders. He styled himself “Sir Wicknell”, although he had not received a British knighthood. His admirers saw a wealthy benefactor sharing his money. Critics questioned the source of his wealth and the closeness of his ties to government.

Mnangagwa described him as “consummately philanthropic” and said he was “personally numbed” by the death. The President had met Chivayo the day before the crash, according to his account, and said the businessman had spoken about plans for Zimbabwe. Kenya’s President William Ruto also paid tribute, describing Chivayo as a “dear friend”. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan travelled to Zimbabwe to offer condolences, while Eswatini’s King Mswati III sent a delegation.

Chivayo’s funeral honours and public displays of wealth stood alongside a business record shaped by major state contracts and controversy. He headed Intratrek Zimbabwe, which was selected to develop a 100-megawatt solar power station in Gwanda. The contract, signed in 2015, was worth more than US$170 million. Zimbabwe Power Company later sought to end the deal after the project failed to progress, but the courts ruled that the agreement remained valid. Intratrek received an advance payment of more than US$5 million, and the plant was still unbuilt at the time of Chivayo’s death. Weeks earlier, the company had received a notice to proceed, with 24 months to complete the project.

A parliamentary inquiry described Intratrek as a “briefcase company” being used as a front to attract investment. Chivayo acknowledged that the firm lacked expertise in solar construction and said its Chinese partner, CHiNT Electric, provided the technical capacity.

He also faced scrutiny over a contract for election materials supplied through South African company Ren-Form ahead of Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections. The deal was worth more than US$115 million. Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption commission closed an inquiry into the matter in 2025, saying it had found no evidence linking Chivayo or the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to wrongdoing. Chivayo denied wrongdoing.

The tension between Chiwenga and Chivayo was visible before the funeral. In January 2025, Chiwenga criticised wealthy people he associated with corruption, using the Shona term “zvigananda” for those who grow rich through dishonest means. He also referred to “mbinga”, a term used for wealthy business figures. The language was widely understood as a rebuke to politically connected entrepreneurs, including Chivayo.

Chivayo responded publicly. “I will always support President E.D. Mnangagwa and ZANU PF’s vision, and no individual, Big or Small, can instill fear in me to decide otherwise. I will neither be moved by nor shaken by any veiled threats from failed politicians.”

The clash intensified in September 2025, when Chiwenga presented a corruption dossier to ZANU-PF’s Politburo. The document named Chivayo and other businessmen as people Chiwenga accused of benefiting from deals that drained public resources. It linked their business activities to a campaign to extend Mnangagwa’s time in office and demanded arrests.

Chiwenga’s words in the dossier reached back to the events of November 2017, when the military helped remove Robert Mugabe from power and Mnangagwa became President. “Comrade President, in November 2017, we took a bold and necessary step to remove former President Robert Mugabe from power, because he sought to manipulate our Constitution for personal gain.” He added: “Today, history is repeating itself in the most shameful way Comrade President.”

The dossier said the so-called 2030 agenda was being funded by people accused of looting state resources. Chiwenga named Chivayo among those he wanted arrested, saying: “Comrade President, tirikuti vanhu ava, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, Wicknell Chivhayo, Scott Sakupwanya, and Delish Nguwaya, and their associates, ngavasungwe, immediately for these unprecedented crimes they have committed.”

Those were accusations made by Chiwenga in a party forum. They did not erase the separate record of investigations into specific contracts, including the election-materials inquiry that was closed without findings against Chivayo or the electoral commission. The dispute over Chivayo’s business methods and political influence nevertheless became entangled with the larger contest over who would lead ZANU-PF and Zimbabwe after Mnangagwa.

Chivayo was a visible supporter of Mnangagwa. He promoted the “2030” slogan and was among the businessman’s public gifts and donations to politicians, musicians, church leaders, football clubs and other public figures. In April 2026, he offered US$10,000 to each of the country’s 360 legislators as a gift, prompting criticism that the payments could influence debate on constitutional changes. He withdrew the offer after a backlash and denied that it was intended to sway the vote.

A more personal explanation for the break between Chiwenga and Chivayo was advanced by former ZANU-PF MP Temba Mliswa. Chivayo said he had lent a fleet of Rolls-Royces and Maybachs for Chiwenga’s wedding in December 2023 and had given the couple US$50,000. Mliswa claimed the support went much further.

Mliswa said Chivayo had been asked for money for wedding preparations, that the couple received a US$250,000 wedding gift and that Chivayo funded a honeymoon in Seychelles. He also claimed the businessman provided R1 million for shopping in South Africa and another R1 million for a gift for Chiwenga’s wife. Mliswa said Chiwenga later requested US$450,000 for apartments for his children, with US$300,000 delivered and US$150,000 outstanding.

“From day one I argued that the VP’s move was steeped in politics and a revenge move rather than in actually fighting corruption,” Mliswa wrote. He said the falling-out began with “the alleged failure by Chivayo to fulfil one of many financial promises which he had made to the VP.” Neither Chiwenga nor Chivayo publicly responded to Mliswa’s claims at the time. The sums and the alleged dispute remained claims made by Mliswa, not a public account from either of the two men.

The political backdrop has changed since Chiwenga first raised the 2030 issue. In July 2026, Mnangagwa signed legislation extending his time in office by 2 years, to 2030. The new law also provides for the President to be elected by Parliament rather than directly by voters. Chiwenga, a former military commander and the country’s Vice-President, has long been viewed as a possible successor. The extension reshaped the timetable around that contest.

Chivayo’s death removes a prominent figure who openly supported Mnangagwa and whose gifts, business interests and access to senior politicians made him a recognisable part of the President’s political circle. Chiwenga’s absence from the funeral did not settle the argument over his reasons. It did, however, leave the public with a sharp and visible contrast: Mnangagwa mourned a close ally, while his deputy stayed away from the final farewell.

For the families, the occasion marked the burial of a husband and wife killed in a violent crash. For ZANU-PF, it unfolded amid disputes over corruption, money and succession. Chiwenga’s silence offered no explanation, but it ensured that a funeral already defined by spectacle also became a public measure of the distance between the Vice-President and one of the most visible businessmen in Mnangagwa’s circle.