By Visaho Delson 30th September,2026, Nairobi
Wicknell Munodaani Chivayo, known to many as Sir Wicknell, was born on 22 November 1982 in Chivhu, Zimbabwe, and raised in the Gandami area after losing his father Isaac Mathias Chivayo in a car accident when he was just 10. He went to Dudley Hall Primary and Churchill Boys High in Harare, but left school early because of financial pressure and by 15 he was already working as a wages clerk at a bus company in the city.
He built his name through Intratrek Zimbabwe, the company he founded and ran as Managing Director. Intratrek was into energy, telecoms and infrastructure, and it shot into the spotlight in 2015 when it won the US$200 million tender for the 100MW Gwanda Solar Project. The company received a US$5 million advance from Zimbabwe Power Company but the project stalled for years, leading to fraud and money laundering charges that followed him to court until his acquittal in 2024. Despite that, he kept pushing for big deals.
Chivayo was never just a businessman he was a showman. He became famous for his flamboyant lifestyle, his fleet of Rolls-Royces, Maybachs, private jets, and for giving away luxury cars and cash to musicians, pastors and ordinary people. He was openly close to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF, and from 2025 he started expanding beyond Zimbabwe into Kenya and Tanzania, where he was linked to a US$2.5 billion transmission deal with China’s Chint Group and the JKIA expansion talks, and was often photographed with Presidents William Ruto and Samia Suluhu Hassan.
In his private life he married Sonja Madzikanda in 2017 and separated in 2024, then married Lucy Muteke in March 2025. He had five children.
His life was cut short on 30 September 2026 when the helicopter he was travelling in with his wife Lucy crashed in Marondera Rural, Mashonaland East. He was 43.
