Tinotenda Hove – President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s public endorsement of controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo has sparked widespread outrage, with many Zimbabweans questioning the motives behind the lavish donation of 21 vehicles to the ZANU-PF Women’s League.

At the handover ceremony on Friday, 5 December, Mnangagwa hailed Chivayo as a “patriotic businessman”, celebrating his role in supplying luxury vehicles to strengthen ZANU-PF structures. The president confirmed that the Women’s League received “six Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series VXR vehicles for the top six leadership positions, alongside ten Toyota Hilux GD6 Double Cab vehicles.” He claimed the vehicles would enhance “grassroots mobilisation efforts” across the ten provinces.

Mnangagwa also revealed that the Women’s League had been given a substantial cash injection, saying: “In addition, the Women’s League received US$500,000, to be distributed equally across the 10 provinces to support various Party development and empowerment initiatives.”

The president extended the praise to the Young Women 4ED, announcing: “I also handed over five (5) Toyota Hilux GD6 Double Cabs to the Young Women 4ED… The Young Women 4ED also received US$100,000 to support their activities in mobilising the youth.”

But outside the ZANU-PF bubble, critics view the spectacle as yet another illustration of a ruling party strengthening its political machinery through questionable benefactors while ignoring the suffering of ordinary citizens. Many argue that the so-called empowerment programmes are exclusive partisan projects disguised as national development.

Mnangagwa heavily credited Chivayo for the donations, saying: “These donations have been made possible through the generous support of a young patriotic businessman, Mr Wicknell Chivayo, whose philanthropy and charitable commitment to National development are exceptional.” He added that Chivayo’s actions “reflect the true spirit of our national philosophy that Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo.”

However, analysts say this praise paints a distorted picture. Chivayo’s long-standing reputation for opaque deals and incomplete state-funded projects raises serious questions about the origin of his newfound generosity. Critics argue that the president’s effusive endorsement appears politically motivated and signals a deepening reliance on wealthy loyalists to shore up ZANU-PF power.

With hospitals lacking basic drugs, civil servants underpaid, and millions struggling with poverty, many Zimbabweans see the celebration of Chivayo’s donations as a troubling symbol of a government more focused on partisan survival than national wellbeing.