Self-exiled former Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri’s R130-million (US$7 million) mansion in Harare has been acquired by Wicknell Chivayo, an ex-convict with access to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Chihuri, who was the only service chief aligned with Robert Mugabe, the late former President during the 2017 coup, was arrested and later fled to Malawi.
According to News24, in 2020, Chihuri’s was attached by Zimbabwe’s National Prosecuting Authority as part of the “unexplainable wealth” the police chief had amassed over the years.
Chihuri, however, disputed the allegations in court, saying he had a long-standing personal feud with Mnangagwa over a woman, and that his matter was more of a “politically targeted persecution” because he refused to play a part in the coup.
In 2022, he won a bid to reclaim the palatial home in the Gletwyn suburb of Harare, among other properties, when the state failed to prove that he had siphoned some R600 million from the state.
The house, which is now in Chivayo’s hands, was recently furnished by a South African high-end firm, Norman Bakos.
Those close to Chivayo estimate that the work done by the firm could run well over R2 million
Chivayo’s lawyers, Messrs Manase and Manase instructed advocate Lewis Uriri to tell News24 that he was a beneficiary of the house bought by a trust. Said Uriri:
Mr Chivayo is a beneficiary of the owner of the property, having purchased the same. The owner, whose title is being processed, is a trust that, for now, cannot be named.
Since last year, Chivayo has been dishing out cars, which range from luxury Mercedes Benz, Toyota Hilux and smaller cars, such as the Toyota Aqua, to those who supported ZANU PF ahead of the disputed August 2023 general elections.
His wealth is unexplainable, and he has even been investigated by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
In April this year, at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, Chivayo was spotted with Mnangagwa when he hosted Kenya’s President William Ruto.
According to the Chronicle, in 2004, Chivayo was handed a three-year jail term with labour after being convicted of theft by false pretences involving R837,000.
The report further says Chivayo “unlawfully and with intent to steal” misrepresented to Digby Sean Nesbitt that he had deposited R837,000 into Shane Peter Nesbitt’s bank account in South Africa in exchange for Z$37,6 million. After receiving the Z$37,6 million, he neglected to deposit the Zimbabwe dollar equivalent.
Chivayo served his sentence at Chikurubi Maximum Prison.
