HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa says the nation, his family and he personally have been left numbed and in deep shock following the helicopter crash that killed businessman and philanthropist Sir Wicknell Chivayo, his wife Lucy Muteke, two crew members and a security aide in rural Marondera yesterday.
Sir Wicknell Chivayo and his wife Lucy Muteke
In a condolence statement released this morning, the President said the country is shattered by the sudden loss of a young family and officers for whom so much promise was held.
President Mnangagwa described the Chivayo family as consummately philanthropic, noting that they touched many lives through countless acts of charity and generosity running into millions of dollars. He said Chivayo’s hand cut across sectors including politics, religion, public service, culture, sport and many professions, motivating and transforming countless lives.
The President said the late businessman had a grand vision for his family, for Zimbabwe, the Southern African region and the continent, and had in his own way deepened the Government’s engagement and re-engagement programme.
“The late Wicknell Chivayo had a grand vision for his family, for our country, for the Southern African subregion and for our African continent, in pursuit of which he, in his own way, deepened our programme of engagement and re-engagement, thus raising the Zimbabwean flag high,” President Mnangagwa said.
He said Chivayo embodied the Second Republic’s ethos of indigenous enterprise with a human face, leaving a legacy that will inspire generations.
President Mnangagwa revealed he was personally aware of Chivayo’s plans for the less privileged and war veterans, which he shared just a day before the crash.
“I am personally aware of numerous plans he had for our Nation and our people, principally the less privileged ones and our war veterans, whose social condition he diligently worked to ameliorate,” he said.
He said the couple died on their way back from Gandami in rural Chikomba, where they were building modern family and community structures in line with Government’s rural development, industrialization and transformation policy.
On behalf of the nation and his family, the President extended deepest condolences to the Chivayo family and to the families of all those lost, saying Government mourns with them in this hour of deep grief.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police confirmed the crash occurred at around 1700hrs yesterday in Marondera Rural, with six people on board.
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