Zimbabwe buries Wicknell Chivayo, the tycoon it both admired and resented
Soldiers saluted the coffin of the 43-year-old businessman, who died with his wife and four others in a helicopter crash last week. He was known for giving away cars and for his closeness to the ruling party.
Harare — Wicknell Chivayo, one of Zimbabwe's best-known and most divisive businessmen, was buried near Harare on Thursday, a week after he died in a helicopter crash, Africanews reports, citing AFP.
Chivayo was 43. His wife and four other people died with him.
Soldiers of the Zimbabwean army saluted as his coffin arrived.
A continental ambition
The minister for Harare Province, Charles Tawengwa, delivered a eulogy. "In his later years, he took his ambitions across the continent meeting Heads of State in the region to discuss renewable energy and infrastructure with projects reaching towards Kenya, Tanzania and Eswatini," he said.
Chivayo's companies pursued renewable energy and infrastructure work across East and Southern Africa, including in Uganda.
Generosity and suspicion
He was widely known for handing out luxury cars and cash in public to his allies. Admirers praised his generosity.
Others were cynical. His closeness to Zimbabwe's ruling elite, and a lifestyle of evident wealth in a country where most people struggle with high prices and scarce jobs, made him a symbol of the gap between the connected and everyone else.
The cause of the crash has not been made public in the reports seen by this newsroom.
This report is based on reporting by Africanews with AFP.
