HARARE – In a shocking revelation, a leaked audio recording has surfaced of controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo boasting about how he leverages his close relationship with President Emmerson Mnangagwa to secure lucrative, million-dollar deals.
He claims to have “captured” Mnangagwa and the system, boasting that he has a tight grip on the president and can get anything he wants.
Chivayo made these claims in a leaked audio, where he also mentioned his involvement in a corrupt US$40 million Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) tender and his close relationships with Mnangagwa and other high-ranking officials.
He also bragged about his wealth and lavish spending, claiming to be worth 10-20 times more after the general elections last year.
His claims confirm the rift between Chivayo and his business partners Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe over the ZEC deal.
Recently, the two Zanu PF activists, Chimombe and Mpofu accused Chivayo of fraudulently altering the tender contract.
They claimed Chivayo sidelined them from the lucrative deal, using the money to fund his extravagant lifestyle, including buying luxury cars and mansions.
According to investigations by the NewsHawks, Chivayo allegedly inflated invoices by up to 235%.
The latest audio also appears to confirm that the ex-convict businessman has benefitted largely through his association with Mnangagwa. He alleges that the President calls him “my son”.
He boasts that he gets government contracts with advance payments because “I’m a trusted son to the President”.
“Sometimes I ignore the moment I say ‘good morning’ you go straight to convene a meeting discussing the amount you would get in these deals,” Chivayo said in the audio.
“But if you get US$100 000. It keeps you going. How many times have I gotten these payments? Imagine this is the first one. Next week I’m getting another one which is US$5,2 million. Then we start other projects with the police, immigration and so forth.
“Don’t be greedy. I told you, bring new work. Chinhu ndakachibata kuti dzvii (I have captured the whole system). When he was going to Italy, I got to the airport and he held my hand and said ‘my son walk me to the plane’.
“We talked. After greeting all the two Vice Presidents, he gave me assignments to do when he was away and shouted at me ‘I will call you when I get to Italy’.
“So, I’m saying take advantage of that. Don’t try and eat in what I have done myself or what caused us problems in the past. How can you cry about school fees? Yesterday alone, I bought a watch for US$2,2 million.
“So; how can you cry about school fees? We once had a fallout with the President. But if he has accepted us, let’s get whatever is there and keep going.
“The level is now different. From election time, I’m ten times higher than I was then, if not twenty.”
Chivayo is on a spending spree characterised by donating millions through cash and vehicle donations to Zanu-PF supporters. On top of that, he recently donated US$1 million to the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) in the presence of Mnangagwa.
