He Looked like Biggie Smalls, Lived Like The Notorious B.I.G
By Fanuel Viriri
In old images Wicknell Chivayo looks like slain rapper Biggie Smalls, known to the world as the Notorious B.I.G.
He appears smartly dressed, chubby-cheeked, with a goofy, almost innocent smile. Nobody looking at that boy would have predicted what he would become.
The chubby kid from Gandami would rise to become one of the most talked about people in the country, sprinkling money like confetti at a wedding.
Never mind how he acquired the money, he was the perfect script for rags to riches. His riches divided a nation. His riches made everybody stand up and notice.
He was showy. And it started with parading his hundreds of shoes in his early days. He was media shy at first. He once chickened out of a scheduled interview with me around 2011 at his old office at Karigamombe Centre. And he opted to answer my questions about his shoes via a WhatsApp message. As his bank account ballooned, he also grew a liking for media interviews. He became a regular at radio stations. He wanted his money story to be heard unlike in 2011 when he made wait at his reception and did not show up.
Born on 22 November 1982 in Chivhu, Mashonaland East, his early life gave no hint of the fortune that would follow. His father, Isaac Mathias Chivayo, died in a car accident when he was about ten.
He was raised by his mother in challenging circumstances. He went to Dudley Hall Primary and Churchill Boys High, leaving school in 1996. His first job was as a wages clerk at a local bus company before he found himself at Union Avenue Flea Market, now Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, in Harare, involved in illegal foreign currency exchange.
That hustle at the flea market was the beginning. From there, the story becomes larger, louder, and more controversial.
Chivayo understood spectacle. In a country where many rich men hide their wealth, he flaunted his. He counted money on Facebook Live. He opened boot after boot filled with US dollars. He bought fleets of cars and gave them away to musicians, footballers, and church members. He made philanthropy look like performance art.
Images of him with the then first family, Robert and Grace Mugabe, would emerge. Then he would later appear with President Emmerson Mnangagwa. This soon turned to permanent appearances at the airport when the President was flying out of the country or coming back from state visits. The relationship became official and his seat was reserved at State functions.
All of this was curated in photographs, most of which were posted on his official Facebook page branded Sir Wicknell, which by Monday 6 October 2026 had 1.1 million followers. Every handshake, every gift, every arrival was documented. He understood the power of proximity to power.
Love him or hate him, in just a few years he became the most talked about person in Zimbabwe.
He popularized the white garment church, Mapositori, once the butt of jokes. It became fashionable to be part of them because Sir Wicknell was part of them. He wore the white garment with pride and turned it into a brand.
He was many things to many people. To his supporters, he was a generous benefactor who remembered where he came from. To his critics, he was the face of tenderpreneurship, a millionaire whose companies won opaque government contracts.
He faced corruption allegations over those contracts, but he never shied away from the spotlight. He answered critics with more displays of wealth.
It is that dream that explains why his death has hit so hard. On Wednesday last week, Chivayo, his wife Lucy, two pilots and a security aide died when their helicopter crashed at Kudenga Farm near Marondera in misty conditions. They were returning from his rural home in Chivhu.
Witnesses said the area was covered in cloud. A final transmission from the pilot said they were struggling to exit the clouds. Then the aircraft went down. Jet fuel ignited. The bodies were burnt beyond recognition.
The family announced that he and his wife will be buried without their heads, which were not recovered. Forensic officials initially thought some remains might be head remains, but later ruled it out.
On Friday, President Mnangagwa visited Chivayo’s Gletwin home to pay his condolences.
“This is God’s doing and his will. I’m hurt. I’m the president, but he was my friend,” he told mourners, declaring Chivayo a provincial hero.
From the flea market to State House, from Dudley Hall to Glen Forest.
That chapter closes on Thursday when he is laid to rest at Glen Forest Cemetery in Harare in a funeral set to be grand, like the life he lived. Like Biggie Smalla, he was Notorious.