Tendai Ruben Mbofana
Today, the headlines are awash with news of Wicknell Chivayo donating ambulances to every provincial hospital in Zimbabwe, commemorating President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s 83rd birthday.
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At first glance, one might be tempted to applaud such an act of generosity, particularly in a country where public health facilities are perpetually under-resourced.
But Zimbabweans have known Wicknell for years.
We are no strangers to his extravagant lifestyle, his flamboyant gifts of luxury vehicles, huge wads of cash to celebrities, gospel musicians, and church leaders.
And that is precisely why this so-called act of philanthropy should be viewed with nothing but deep suspicion, if not outright contempt.
What Zimbabweans need are not token donations, no matter how shiny the vehicles or how well-intentioned they might appear.
What we demand is accountability.
We demand that every cent Wicknell has acquired be transparently accounted for.
We demand that he explains where and how he amassed his wealth.
For years, he has been at the center of several high-profile deals that are, at best, questionable and, at worst, emblematic of the looting of public resources.
And today, the very same man expects applause for a gesture that barely scratches the surface of the harm his actions have contributed to in the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans.
It is well-documented that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission awarded a highly controversial tender for election materials to South Africa’s Ren-Form CC.
Investigations in South Africa later revealed that over R800 million of the R1.1 billion paid by Zimbabwe’s treasury was transferred into accounts and companies linked to Wicknell Chivayo.
Some of the invoices were grossly inflated—for instance, a server valued at about R90,000 was billed at R23 million.
The public must ask: how does one reconcile the award of such sums to a private entity when our schools, hospitals, and clinics cannot function without basic resources?
And yet, Wicknell walks freely, living a life of conspicuous luxury, while Zimbabweans queue for hours at broken hospital wards, often paying for medications that should be freely provided.
Then there is the now-infamous cancer machine deal.
TTM Global Medical Exports, a company registered only a few months before the contract was awarded and reportedly linked to Chivayo, was entrusted with nearly US$500 million to supply, deliver, install, and commission cancer treatment equipment.
The circumstances were opaque, with no public tender and no clear demonstration of the company’s capacity to manage such a complex project.
The contract alone is staggering in its audacity, revealing how deeply entrenched favoritism and opacity have become in Zimbabwe’s procurement processes.
Ordinary Zimbabweans, facing daily hardships, are left to wonder how such sums could be diverted to a few individuals, while hospitals crumble and lives hang in the balance.
It is important to underscore the human cost of this corruption.
Today, I was at Kwekwe General Hospital to visit a loved one, where I witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of the misappropriation of public resources.
Patients were being asked to buy their own medications because the hospital had none in stock.
Admitted patients were fed only rice with boiled sugar beans for lunch.
Outside, a fleet of ambulances, about five in total, stood broken down, unfit for purpose.
These are not abstract statistics; these are the consequences of systemic corruption, the direct outcome of officials and businessmen enriching themselves at the expense of Zimbabweans’ lives.
And now, after years of such devastation, Wicknell Chivayo seeks to present ambulances to hospitals as if this absolves him of his complicity in their collapse.
It is an insult, a spitting in the face of ordinary citizens struggling daily in a system hollowed out by greed.
This is why the public must resist the optics of philanthropy as a substitute for justice.
What is at stake is not just a few ambulances; it is the principle that no Zimbabwean, regardless of influence or proximity to power, should benefit from public resources without accountability.
The narrative Wicknell seeks to impose—of the wealthy benefactor—cannot and must not distract from the reality of how that wealth was acquired.
Donations, no matter how generously framed, cannot replace justice.
Zimbabweans deserve transparency, restitution, and the proper management of resources intended for the collective good.
Consider, too, the scale of the sums involved.
Imagine the transformation that could occur if the R800 million funneled to Wicknell through Ren-Form CC were instead invested in public hospitals, schools, or water infrastructure.
Consider what could have been achieved if the nearly US$500 million ostensibly set aside for cancer machines was properly managed and allocated through a transparent process.
These are not trivial amounts; these are transformative sums that could tangibly improve the lives of millions.
Yet, they are concentrated in the hands of a few individuals, their use shrouded in secrecy, leaving ordinary Zimbabweans to endure dilapidated hospitals, broken roads, power outages, and crumbling public institutions.
Zimbabweans do not need Wicknell Chivayo’s donations.
What we need is accountability from him and others who have profited from dubious dealings.
The ambulances, the flashy gifts, the headlines—they are distractions, attempts to rewrite a narrative that must not be allowed to pass unchallenged.
True reform will come not from the spectacle of handouts but from the rigorous enforcement of transparency, restitution of misappropriated funds, and structural reforms that ensure public resources serve the people, not a privileged few.
Wicknell Chivayo’s actions remind us of the insidious ways corruption permeates society.
While he throws money around to musicians, celebrities, and church leaders, public hospitals remain broken, patients suffer, and families struggle to access basic care.
The time has come for Zimbabweans to demand more than symbolic gestures.
We must insist that those who have enriched themselves at the expense of the nation return what rightfully belongs to the people.
Only when wealth acquired under unclear circumstances is returned and systems restored to integrity can Zimbabwe truly progress.
Until then, the generosity of Wicknell Chivayo will remain nothing more than a hollow performance—a stark reminder of how deep the rot has gone, and how far we have yet to go to reclaim our country from those who have exploited it for personal gain.
Zimbabweans do not need donations from Wicknell Chivayo.
We need the wealth he accumulated under dubious circumstances to be fully accounted for and returned to the public purse.
Anything less is a betrayal of trust and an affront to every Zimbabwean enduring the daily struggle of life in a country plundered for the benefit of a few.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
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