Controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo’s donation of 100 Aqua cars to the Zanu PF youth league has left some senior party figures uneasy amid accusations that he wants to “buy his way to the top”.
Tongues were already wagging in ZANU-PF over Chivayo’s close association with President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the businessman overshadowed ministers at official events.
Chivayo was distributing cars and money to Mnangagwa loyalists and thanked them for showing loyalty to his Zanu PF party through song, dance and other activities that are believed to have played a role in Mnangagwa’s re-election in the disputed 2023 elections.
Sources said Chifayo’s donations were part of a broader conspiracy to campaign for Mnangagwa to run for a third term.
Some ZANU-PF members, believed to be from a faction allied with Mnangagwa, have been promoting the slogan: “2030, famnangagwa fanning vachepo” (Mnangagwa will remain in office), igniting unrest in the party’s corridors.
Chifayo said on Friday that he had allocated US$850,000 to purchase 100 Toyota Aqua cars to distribute to the party’s youth across the country’s 10 provinces.
Chivayo said the vehicles would be distributed randomly to Zanu PF youth who campaigned vigorously for Zanu PF to ensure victory in the 2023 elections.
Sources in the ruling party said yesterday that Chifayo is now serving Mnangagwa’s personal interests and is secretly campaigning for his bid for a third term.
A ruling party source said: “He is secretly campaigning for Mnangagwa to run for a third term, while at the same time he appears to be building his own power base.”
“It is now infiltrating the structures of Zanu PF.
“Very soon we will get to a situation where every musician, comedian and politician will be campaigning for Mnangagwa’s bid for a third term… Who wants to be left behind because after the youth donate, he will target the women’s leagues and the main wing and so forth?
“With this kind of donation, even senior party members might be tempted to name him chef sooner rather than later.”
The sources said Mnangagwa was actively financing his transactional policies.
However, Zanu PF information director Farai Marabira said the party welcomed Chivayo’s donation.
“He has shown that he has great respect for the ZPA and its leadership of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has created billionaires in the country and is one of the beneficiaries,” he said.
“We have been through situations where multinational companies exploited our resources for the benefit of their countries while we remained in poverty, but now we have empowered ourselves thanks to our President Emmerson Mnangagwa.” standard
