HARARE — Wicknell Chivayo, Zimbabwe’s most conspicuous private benefactor, announced on Thursday that he would give the national cricket team $1 million in cash for reaching the Super Eights at the ongoing T20 World Cup – even as the Chevrons were absorbing a heavy defeat to India that effectively ended their semi-final hopes.
The pledge came with a caveat: the payout is “subject to approval by the principal” – a reference to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose blessing Chivayo has long cited before disbursing his headline-grabbing gifts.
“Whatever the final outcome will be for the Chevrons cricket team, all I know is so far, subject to approval by the principal, I already owe them $1 million in cash on their return,” Chivayo wrote on X, posting the message as Zimbabwe were being dismantled by the Indians.
Zimbabwe’s journey to the Super Eights was genuinely remarkable. The Chevrons beat Australia, drew with Ireland, and delivered a stunning victory over co-hosts Sri Lanka to advance from the group stage, results few had forecast.
Chivayo says that qualifying among the world’s top eight teams was itself an achievement deserving recognition, irrespective of what followed.
“Their heroics against very strong teams like Australia and Sri Lanka as well as qualifying into the Top 8s cannot just go unnoticed,” he wrote.
Those heights proved difficult to sustain. Defeats to West Indies and India on Thursday closed the door on a semi-final place, with only a dead-rubber clash against South Africa remaining.
Chivayo, who has built a substantial personal fortune through government contracts, has in recent years distributed tens of millions of dollars across a bewildering array of recipients: army generals, religious leaders, sports clubs, and celebrities among them musicians.
The beneficiaries have little in common beyond their public profiles and, often, proximity to Zimbabwe’s political establishment.
Critics and analysts have struggled to identify a coherent philanthropic logic behind the giving. Increasingly, observers are linking the largesse to Mnangagwa’s reported ambition to extend his presidential term by two years from 2028 to 2030 through a constitutional amendment. The theory holds that recipients of Chivayo’s gifts would be expected to lend their voices to any campaign to alter the constitution when the moment arrives.
Mnangagwa has pushed back against such interpretations, once describing Chivayo simply as a “philanthropist” and dismissing suggestions that the businessman acts as his proxy.
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