HARARE — Wicknell Chivayo’s death has left car dealers checking millions of dollars in unpaid balances, workers waiting for road projects to resume and the future of a disputed Harare mansion unresolved.
Three major car businesses in Harare are owed a combined US$5.1 million for vehicles supplied to the businessman, according to people familiar with the transactions. The largest reported balance is US$2.4 million at Faramatsi Motors. Exquisite Cars is owed about US$1.4 million, while Enterprise Car Sales is owed about US$1.3 million.
The reported debts are part of a wider financial picture now facing Chivayo’s estate. The businessman, 43, died with his wife, Lucy Muteke, and four other people when a helicopter crashed in the Marondera district on September 30. The couple’s deaths brought an abrupt end to the public spectacle around Chivayo’s gifts of luxury cars and cash, while leaving suppliers and business partners to establish which transactions had been paid in full.
A source familiar with the arrangements said Chivayo was allowed to collect vehicles on credit and settle the bills later, often within three months. Payments were understood to follow the timing of government disbursements to his businesses.
“Most of his income came from the government. So these payments to the car dealers followed cycles of disbursements by the treasury, and the car dealers were comfortable with their arrangement,” the source said.
The system supported a high-profile gifting operation. Chivayo would publicly announce a vehicle for a recipient and direct them to collect it from a dealer. “Go and see Victor” became a familiar refrain when he told people they were receiving a high-end car.
Victor Vikela, the head of Exquisite Cars, declined to discuss details, saying he would not comment “out of respect for Chivayo’s legacy, and the relationship we had.” He disputed the reported figures as greatly exaggerated and said whatever Chivayo owed his business “has been written off.”
Faramatsi Motors owner Matsika also declined to discuss individual transactions. He said: “We respect and protect and abide by our client confidentiality rules. If you buy a car from Faramatsi Motors, you will not hear anything relating to the transaction. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”
Tendai Chipanga, who owns Enterprise Car Sales, could not be reached for comment.
Final deliveries and open accounts
The scale of the business was visible in Chivayo’s last announced vehicle gifts. On September 25, he said 15 church members from Domboshava, Chiweshe and Mrewa would each receive a new 2026 Toyota Fortuner 2.4 GD-6 and US$5,000 in cash.
“Your 15 BRAND-NEW 2026 TOYOTA FORTUNERS 2.4 GD6 have arrived,” he wrote in a social media post. “Each one of you will also receive US$5,000 cash as a token of appreciation for your commitment and service to our Church.”
The vehicles were collected on September 30, the day of the crash. The cars were being distributed to members of the Johane Masowe church from Mashonaland Central when some recipients heard that Chivayo had died. The handover had taken place, but questions remained over whether suppliers had received every payment due for the vehicles.
Fortuners were among the most expensive models in the purchasing operation, with each GD-6 valued at about US$70,000. Orders also included Toyota Aquas, Land Cruisers and Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Some vehicles were selected for low mileage, including cars with fewer than 20,000 kilometres on the clock.
Dealers had come to expect payment within about two months. Large orders could involve more than one showroom, with suppliers pooling vehicles to fulfil requests. That arrangement helped assemble fleets, but it also left a trail of separate invoices, vehicle releases and transfers for businesses to reconcile.
Suppliers are now matching each vehicle with the order that brought it to market and checking whether the corresponding payment cleared. South African dealers are also seeking to establish what remains outstanding for vehicles released before full payment. Some vehicles have been left at the Beitbridge border post while duty remains unpaid.
The value of the publicly announced gifts has been put at more than US$50 million, while Chivayo himself claimed to have given away more than US$100 million. Another estimate of his gifting campaign placed it at more than 300 luxury vehicles and about US$47 million in cars and cash. Those figures describe different estimates of the gifts; the reported US$5.1 million is the separate balance said to be outstanding to the three Harare dealers.
Mansion deal stalled over tax and transfer
The car accounts are not the only unsettled business involving high-value assets. Chivayo’s mansion in Harare’s Gletwyn suburb, spread across four adjoining stands covering about 11.5 hectares, was the subject of a purchase agreement with former police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri in 2017.
The agreement set the price at US$2.555 million. Chivayo was to pay US$1 million when the agreement was signed, with the remaining US$1.555 million due within a year. The document said that if the balance was not paid within the agreed period, the contract would be “null and void and of no effect.”
Ownership was to pass from Chihuri’s True Hope Trust to Chivayo’s WMC Family Trust only after the full purchase price and associated transfer costs had been paid, including stamp duty and obligations to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.
The transaction ran into difficulty when the tax authority valued the property at US$7 million for capital gains tax purposes. At a rate of 20 per cent, that valuation would produce a tax bill of US$1.4 million. The seller was responsible for the tax, and a lawyer familiar with the transaction said Chihuri objected to the liability because it was based on a valuation far above the agreed price.
Chivayo reportedly offered to meet the tax cost, but the transfer was never completed. A legal expert said Chihuri could seek to recover the property by treating the amount already paid as rent rather than as a part-payment towards the sale. The mansion’s ownership and the status of the agreement now sit among the matters to be resolved as the estate is administered.
Chivayo was also reported to have completed the purchase of a property in England valued at US$12 million shortly before his death. He had spoken of owning properties in Dubai, Eswatini, Johannesburg and Cape Town. His Gulfstream G550, which he valued at US$34 million, left Zimbabwe on October 18 and landed in Basel, Switzerland. The reason for the aircraft’s move and who authorised it were not immediately clear.
Road crews leave Marondera sites
The effects of Chivayo’s death have also reached two road construction projects in Marondera district. Workers and equipment left the sites, where his company IMC had been building the 25-kilometre Marondera–Murewa Road and the 10-kilometre Longlands Road towards KwaMuteke.
The Marondera–Murewa route connects traffic between the Harare–Mutare and Harare–Nyamapanda highways. Before construction, transporters travelling between the two routes had to pass through Harare, adding distance and cost to their journeys. Both projects were expected to be completed in December.
An individual familiar with the work described the stoppage as temporary, saying: “For now construction works on both roads have taken a sabbatical. Reports are that works will resume end of this week.”
IMC representative Flashdance Madzudzo said the company had not abandoned the projects and was trying to secure fuel to return crews to the roads.
“We have not abandoned the project. We are currently mobilising diesel so that we go back on the roads. We will resume work soon,” Madzudzo said.
However, the company no longer expects to meet the December target. Asked whether the deadline remained achievable, Madzudzo said: “Because of the setback (Chivayo’s death), it is impossible for us to meet the December deadline.”
Gwanda solar project faces a new test
The future of Chivayo’s companies is also tied to large government contracts, including the long-delayed Gwanda Solar Project. Intratrek Zimbabwe, the company he led, was awarded the contract for a 100-megawatt plant in Matabeleland South in 2015. The engineering, procurement and construction price was first set at about US$172 million and later reduced to US$132 million.
Zimbabwe Power Company advanced about US$5 million to Intratrek in 2016. The project was later caught in years of delay and a dispute between the power company and the contractor. ZPC terminated the agreement in 2018, but court rulings in 2023 upheld the contract. Intratrek and ZPC, acting for the Government, signed a restated contract on March 27, 2025.
In September 2026, ZPC issued a Notice to Proceed requiring the contractor to complete the plant within 24 months. Intratrek’s technical engineering partner is CHiNT Electric Co. Ltd. Wilson Manatse, CHiNT’s executive chairman, said the company was preparing to move teams and equipment to the site.
“We are pleased to confirm that pursuant to the Notice, we are now proceeding with the immediate mobilisation of our project teams to site, together with the earth moving and associated construction equipment,” Manatse said.
The notice stated: “The project duration shall be 24 months, in line with the agreed Programme of Works, as set out in the EPC Contract and its accompanying schedules.” The project remains unfinished, and the new deadline was set only weeks before Chivayo’s death.
Chivayo held government contracts valued at nearly US$1 billion through IMC Communications, Intratrek and TTM Global Medical Exports. His death has left questions over the operation of those businesses, the debts associated with them and the delivery of projects already under contract.
For the car dealers, the immediate task is to reconcile stock and payments. At the mansion, the incomplete transfer leaves a costly property transaction unresolved. On the roads and at Gwanda, companies and public authorities must carry forward work that had been closely associated with Chivayo. His estate now sits at the centre of a tangle of claims, incomplete payments and commitments that stretch from Harare showrooms to major infrastructure sites.