On January 11, the controversial Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo, also known as 'Sir Wicknell', flew to Sagana State Lodge to meet President William Ruto and his deputy, Kithure Kindiki.
The businessman, who is notorious in his country for a previous money laundering conviction, would later share photographs on social media praising the pair.
Despite questions surrounding his integrity, Mr Chivayo has become a familiar face in the corridors of power, hobnobbing with the high and mighty.
In an article published by the BBC on June 22, 2025, he described himself as a “hustler” with a “midas touch” who works hard.
The BBC says that for years, 'Sir Wicknell', as he calls himself, has loved to boast about his riches on Instagram.
“While he is open about how he spends his money; he is less so about how he makes it as he faces scrutiny over the source of his wealth in a country where life is a daily struggle for most people.”
The BBC continues; “but his close ties with power, which have allowed him to become rich, mean that he will always fly close to controversy.”
BBC cites Cry Havoc, a 2011 memoir by British mercenary and coup plotter Simon Mann's in which he recalls his time with Wicknell in Zimbabwe's Chikurubi Maximum Prison.
Zimbabwean entrepreneur and regional investor Wicknell Chivayo paid a distinguished courtesy call on President William Ruto.
Photo credit: Pool
The former British army officer wrote his "well-educated" fellow inmate Wicknell warned him never to criticise Zanu-PF.
According to the BBC, the pair were in the same cell block - Mann serving four years for his role in a failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea in 2004, and Chivayo a couple of years for fraud.
"In Africa the unsolicited gift is massively powerful," Mann quoted Wicknell as saying - a seemingly prophetic comment.
“Between them they paid in cigarettes for the services of a prisoner, serving 94 years for armed robbery, to do their laundry.”
Chivayo and President Ruto dueing a past visit to State House.
Photo credit: Pool
Chivayo visited Kenya’s State House several times last year, and in April he met the Tanzanian president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, at a meeting facilitated by Dr Ruto.
“This afternoon, I was yet again highly honoured to pay a courtesy visit to His Excellency, President William Ruto, at State House in Nairobi. Kenya is my second home, and as always, His excellency welcomes me with the greatest sense of belonging. Each meeting with the President is a treasured opportunity, as I am consistently enriched by his infinite wisdom on living a purposeful life that gratifies God,” he said in his 2026 new year message.
Chivayo and disputed South African elections
However, the opposition has now raised concerns about his questionable past and the supply of election materials in South Africa and Namibia. This is bound to raise eyebrows as the country heads into elections next year.
They claim that Mr Chivayo is linked to the disputed elections in South Africa and Namibia due to his involvement in the supply of election materials.
The united opposition's concerns echo those previously raised by former Azimio leader Raila Odinga regarding the involvement of Venezuelan Jose Camargo in the outcome of the 2022 presidential election, which Odinga had unsuccessfully contested in the Supreme Court. Odinga died last October.
President William Ruto with lawmakers from the State of West Viginia, Rollan Roberts and Jack Woodrum, along with former Congressman Mark Deli at State House, Nairobi on January 16, 2025.
Photo credit: PCS
Azimio's complaints centred on how the supply of the multibillion-shilling Kenya Integrated Election Management System (KiEMS) kits was awarded to the Venezuelan firm Smartmatic, and on Mr Camargo's involvement. Mr Camargo was found in possession of election materials just days before voting began.
With the 2027 general election approaching, the united opposition is demanding a free and fair process and calling on President Ruto to declare his interest in Mr Chivayo to the public.
Mr Muturi alleges Mr Chivayo and Mr Camargo are part of a wider syndicate involved in contested elections, particularly in Africa.
“This man is a convicted fraudster in the supply of election materials in South Africa, in Namibia,” Mr Muturi said on February 1 in Murang’a in reference to Mr Chivayo.
Mr Muturi, the immediate former Attorney-General and Public Service Cabinet Secretary in President Ruto’s administration, was in the company of his colleagues in the united opposition- immediate former DP Rigathi Gachagua (DCP) and Martha Karua of the People’s Liberation Party (PLP) among others.
State House spokesman Mr Hussein Mohamed did not respond to our inquiries sent to his known phone number on why the president was entertaining such a character of questionable integrity as did Mr Munyori Buku, the head of the Presidential Communication Service (PCS).
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who also serves as the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, did not also respond to our inquiries.
The three senior government officials were asked to state Mr Chivayo’s interests in Kenya, the times he has visited Kenya in the recent past and how many meetings he has had with President Ruto during the visits.
The other question was whether President Ruto finds it odd hobnobbing with an individual with such a shady past.
However, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei, reacting to our inquiries, said; “the question is outside the remit of my responsibility.”
Chivayo and President Ruto at State House
Photo credit: Pool
The united opposition that also includes Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Democratic Action Party- Kenya (DAPK) Eugene Wamalwa has piled pressure on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to come out clean over the credibility of the 2027 elections.
This includes demands that the electoral agency cut any ties with Smartmatic in the supply of the election technology.
On Tuesday evening, IEBC chief executive Marjan Hussein Marjan quit after falling out with commissioners.
Sources say the Smartmatic tender has caused jitters at the commission amid reports that the contract set to expire in November has been extended controversially.
Mr Muturi, who is also the immediate former Speaker of the National Assembly, wondered why Mr Chivayo continues “to enjoy access to President Ruto and his people” despite being linked to election-related controversies in several countries.
“Whenever he comes to Kenya, he passes through the Eldoret international airport. We must begin to ask, what is President Ruto doing with this man?” Mr Muturi wondered.
The Eldoret international airport is just a few kilometres from President Ruto’s Sugoi home in Uasin Gishu County.
During the church service in Mathioya, Mr Muturi displayed photos which he claimed illustrated Mr Chivayo inside the president’s office and in meetings with regional leaders.
According to the immediate former Attorney-General, “the businessman’s political connections shield him from accountability.”
Zimbabwean entrepreneur and regional investor Wicknell Chivayo paid a distinguished courtesy call on President William Ruto.
Photo credit: Pool
The BBC report describes Mr Chivayo as a man who “loves to display his proximity to power” posting on social media, photos of himself with politicians, from Zimbabwe's former president Robert Mugabe (he died in 2019), his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa to Kenya’s Ruto and Tanzania’s Suluhu.
“In bashful tones, he said his main business was government tenders secured with foreign partners in the areas of renewable energy, engineering, procurement, construction and power projects. He said he also had businesses in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania,” the BBC quotes Mr Chivayo saying.
Just days to the August 2022 general election, Mr Camargo, a Venezuelan national, drew the dubious attention in Kenya with then presidential candidate Odinga demanding explanation from IEBC over what his real business in Kenya was.
As pressure piled up on the country’s law enforcement agency, Mr Camargo would be arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in possession of electoral materials linked to Smartmatic and later released without being charged.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has been captured by BBC having launched an inquiry against Mr Chivayo in 2024.
This is after South African investigative non-profit organization- Open Secrets- claimed Mr Chivayo had received “a windfall of millions of dollars as the facilitator of a tender to supply election materials to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in 2023.”
But ZEC denied any dealings with Mr Chivayo, according to the BBC, “and a year on, ZACC has not charged him.”
However, two other businessmen he is claimed to have had dealings with were arrested and charged with misappropriating around Sh910 million in a separate case.
As per the BBC report, the two men denied the accusations, linked to the presidential goat scheme tender “and have spent almost a year in jail waiting for the trial to begin.”
