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Chivayo marks 45th birthday with US$5.3 million giveaway
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Businessman Wicknell Chivayo celebrated his 45th birthday on Saturday with yet another extravagant show of wealth, announcing a US$5.3 million giveaway while holidaying in Seychelles.
Chivayo travelled to the island nation aboard his private Bombardier Challenger 300 jet and used social media to unveil his latest round of donations, which included luxury vehicles, buses and large sums of cash.
The Intratrek Zimbabwe executive, who rarely grants media interviews and does not publicly discuss the origins of his fortune, has over the years secured several state contracts, the details of which have not been fully disclosed. He has also publicised meetings with presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Uganda, saying he is expanding renewable energy interests across the region.
An assessment of his social media activity shows that in the last two years alone, Chivayo has spent more than US$70 million on houses, vehicles and cash gifts to celebrities, members of his Johanne Masowe apostolic sect, Zanu-PF politicians, social media personalities and randomly selected beneficiaries.
Saturday's expenditure appears to be his most costly single-day spending spree to date.
In his latest pledges, Chivayo announced six top-of-the-range Toyota Land Cruisers for leaders of Zanu-PF's Women's League, alongside US$500,000 to be shared across the League's 10 provincial structures. He further committed to donating 10 Toyota Hilux GD6s to provincial women's league leaders and six additional Hiluxes plus US$100,000 to the Zanu-PF affiliate Young Women 4 ED.
He also promised ten 75-seater buses, each valued at about US$210,000, to women in the Johanne Masowe Church. Two other buses were pledged to John Landa Nkomo Secondary School in Tsholotsho and Dudley Hall Primary School in Norton — the latter being the school where he began his education.
Chivayo spent the day at a five-star resort in Seychelles with his wife, Lulu, according to images and videos posted online.
Earlier this year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa dismissed claims that Chivayo was acting as his "front" in efforts to buy political influence.
"Where would I get the money to give him? … You can't bother me about someone who is philanthropic," Mnangagwa told journalists at the time.
Chivayo travelled to the island nation aboard his private Bombardier Challenger 300 jet and used social media to unveil his latest round of donations, which included luxury vehicles, buses and large sums of cash.
The Intratrek Zimbabwe executive, who rarely grants media interviews and does not publicly discuss the origins of his fortune, has over the years secured several state contracts, the details of which have not been fully disclosed. He has also publicised meetings with presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Uganda, saying he is expanding renewable energy interests across the region.
An assessment of his social media activity shows that in the last two years alone, Chivayo has spent more than US$70 million on houses, vehicles and cash gifts to celebrities, members of his Johanne Masowe apostolic sect, Zanu-PF politicians, social media personalities and randomly selected beneficiaries.
Saturday's expenditure appears to be his most costly single-day spending spree to date.
He also promised ten 75-seater buses, each valued at about US$210,000, to women in the Johanne Masowe Church. Two other buses were pledged to John Landa Nkomo Secondary School in Tsholotsho and Dudley Hall Primary School in Norton — the latter being the school where he began his education.
Chivayo spent the day at a five-star resort in Seychelles with his wife, Lulu, according to images and videos posted online.
Earlier this year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa dismissed claims that Chivayo was acting as his "front" in efforts to buy political influence.
"Where would I get the money to give him? … You can't bother me about someone who is philanthropic," Mnangagwa told journalists at the time.
Source - Zimlive
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