MASVINGO – Free-spending businessman and Zanu PF benefactor Wicknell Chivayo has donated US$1 million to the Zion Christian Church, whose leaders have publicly vowed the church’s support for President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the ruling Zanu PF.
Chivayo was on Sunday one of the delegates at a giant congregation convened by the church in Mbungo, in Masvingo.
The event was also attended by President Mnangagwa.
Chivayo, whose source of wealth remains mysterious, has been doling out cars to musicians, celebrities and individuals who have publicly expressed their support for the ruling party.
It is widely believed the businessman is being afforded access to huge sums of public funds through opaque government tenders often advanced to individuals with close links to the ruling elite.
By donating to the church, Chivayo has not deviated from his mission to share part of his largesse to groups and individuals with close links to Zanu PF.
Led by controversial cleric Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi, the Zion Christian Church has a membership of more than 250,000 making it one of the largest religious organisations in the country.
Before the August 2023 elections, the church publicly endorsed Mnangagwa’s candidacy.
Nehemiah told the church’s followers to vote for Mnangagwa when the Zimbabwean incumbent also attended a gathering to commemorate the death of the church’s founder, Reverend Samuel Mutendi at Defe Dopota Gokwe South.
Mutendi said. “We must vote for a leader who will protect our land, our culture, and our way of life and that man is President Mnangagwa”.
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