Former Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has claimed that President William Ruto is worried because Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo died while holding more than US$11 billion allegedly linked to the Kenyan president.
Gachagua made the claim during an engagement with clergy in Boston, United States, on Sunday, four days after Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, were killed in a helicopter crash in Zimbabwe. The former deputy president said Chivayo had been used to receive, transport and keep large sums of money for Ruto.
“There was a crook from Zimbabwe called Chivayo, because I was his (President Ruto) deputy, I know they were doing business together, and he is a man he has been using for money laundering. He gets money in dollars, that man comes with a plane, lands in a private airstrip, and takes the money to keep for him,” Gachagua claimed.
He said Chivayo’s death had left Ruto facing a crisis over the whereabouts of the money. Referring to the president by his familiar nickname, Gachagua said: “The guy has crashed with a helicopter… and Kasongo has gone berserk. This man has his money.”
Gachagua put the alleged sum at more than KSh1.5 trillion, a figure he said was equivalent to about US$11 billion. “Over 1.5 trillion. The man is dead, his wife is dead, he doesn’t know where to begin. So the man is angry,” he said.
Kenyan President William Ruto’s former deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, who served from September 2022 until his impeachment in October 2024, says his ex-boss is angry and emotional about the sudden and unexpected death of Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo because owed him huge sums of money, help in money laundering and was going to also help him rig the country’s next elections on 10 August 2027 using Korean technology.
Ruto expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy that claimed the lives of Chivayo, his wife Lucy Muteke, her personal assistant and two pilots near Marondera last Wednesday.
Ruto said: “Wicknell was a dear friend whose warmth touched many people. I will remember him for his friendship, his energy and his deep conviction in the possibilities of our continent.”
He described the sudden deaths as a painful loss to the families, friends, and all who knew the victims.
Ruto extended his sympathies to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the people of Zimbabwe, and the grieving families, concluding with a prayer: “May God grant Wicknell, Lucy and all those who perished eternal rest.”— TheNewsHawks (@NewsHawksLive) October 4, 2026
He did not cite documents or financial records in support of the claim. Neither Ruto nor State House had publicly responded to the allegation by the time of Gachagua’s remarks. The accusation has nevertheless put fresh attention on the unusually close relationship between the Kenyan president and the flamboyant businessman, whose public appearances with African leaders had become a regular feature of his social media presence.
Chivayo, widely known as Sir Wicknell, was one of six people killed when a private helicopter crashed in the Marondera rural area, about 70 kilometres east of Harare, on Wednesday evening. Police said the aircraft came down at about 5pm and that all six people on board died.
The businessman and Muteke had been travelling from Gandami in Chikomba, where they were building a rural home. The helicopter crashed at Kudenga Farm about 40 minutes after take-off. Two pilots and three other passengers were also killed.
Zimbabwean authorities said investigators had recovered the aircraft’s black box. Early information indicated that the helicopter’s tail struck the ground first, causing fuel to spill before a fire spread across the crash site. The cause of the crash remained under investigation.
Family spokesman Herbert Chivayo confirmed the deaths of the couple. Government spokesman Nick Mangwana said the aircraft had been carrying “a prominent businessman, three other passengers and two pilots” and that “Current information indicates that there were no survivors in this crash.”
President Ruto later described Chivayo as a “dear friend”. In a message of condolence, he said: “I am deeply saddened by the tragic passing of my friend, Wicknell Chivayo, together with his wife, Lucy Muteke, and the other lives lost in the helicopter crash in Zimbabwe.”
Ruto added: “Wicknell was a dear friend whose warmth touched many people. I will remember him for his friendship, his energy and his deep conviction in the possibilities of our continent.”
The public friendship between the two men had attracted attention in Kenya because of the access Chivayo appeared to enjoy around the presidency. In August, Chivayo posted a video showing Ruto driving him and his wife to a helipad at the president’s private property in Kilgoris, Narok County.
The encounter took place after Chivayo attended a traditional engagement ceremony involving Ruto’s daughter, Charlene Ruto, and her partner, Isaiah Yunge. Chivayo described the occasion as an honour and praised the Kenyan first family in a series of social media posts.
“I am being driven by the President of Kenya,” Chivayo said in the video. He then added: “Being driven by the President of the Republic. Ah no. God is the greatest.”
The businessman also described Ruto as a leader of exceptional vision and praised his work in infrastructure, housing, agriculture, investment and economic empowerment. His appearances with Ruto were not limited to social events. Chivayo had repeatedly presented himself as a regional investor with interests in energy, infrastructure and construction.
That access has become more politically sensitive because of the claims made by Gachagua, who served as Ruto’s deputy before the pair fell out politically. Gachagua also linked Chivayo to alleged plans involving Kenya’s 2027 general election.
He claimed that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission had been involved in an arrangement to introduce election technology from South Korea and that tender specifications had been written to favour Miru Systems, a South Korean company. Gachagua further alleged that Chivayo was acting as a local agent for the company.
“They had an arrangement with IEBC to introduce some technology from South Korea to manage the next elections. So, a tender was floated, and the specs were tailor-made for that company in South Korea,” Gachagua alleged.
He continued: “So, this Chivayo guy was a local agent for those fellows. So, this is the man he was to use to steal the vote. The guy is dead. The man is stuck. He doesn’t know where to begin.”
Kenya’s election technology procurement has already faced public scrutiny ahead of the 2027 vote. A tender for an integrated elections management system has been challenged by an unsuccessful bidder, with questions raised about the process and the requirements set by the electoral commission. The dispute has added pressure on the commission as it prepares for an election in which technology, voter registration and the transmission of results are expected to remain politically sensitive issues.
Gachagua also rejected any suggestion that he or opposition figures had been involved in Chivayo’s death. “William Ruto, please don’t blame Riggy G. I didn’t kill this guy. I was in the United States; the accident happened in Zimbabwe. Surely, I have nothing to do with it. Opposition leaders have nothing to do with it,” he said.
Chivayo’s name had also been drawn into controversy over the planned expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. The project is intended to add a new passenger terminal and runway at Kenya’s busiest airport, which has been operating close to or beyond its original design capacity.
A contract valued at about KSh154.2 billion was signed for the airport modernisation project, but the deal immediately faced a fresh legal challenge. A consumer lobby group sought to suspend implementation, arguing that the agreement had been executed while constitutional questions over the procurement remained unresolved.
Reports had claimed that Chivayo’s company, IMC Construction Kenya, was linked to the consortium involved in the airport project. Kenyan officials moved to distance the state from the businessman, with the government rejecting the suggestion that he had won the airport upgrade contract. The stated contracting parties were linked to China Communications Construction Company and its road and bridge subsidiary.
The airport controversy followed the collapse of an earlier proposal involving India’s Adani Group. President Ruto ordered that arrangement cancelled in 2024 after investigative scrutiny and public protests. The replacement project has therefore faced close attention from opposition politicians, civil society groups and members of the public who have demanded clearer information about the companies involved, the funding arrangements and the procurement process.
Chivayo’s business career had already attracted scrutiny in Zimbabwe. He was associated with Intratrek Zimbabwe, the company behind the long-delayed Gwanda solar project, and other large energy and infrastructure ventures. He had also been convicted of fraud in 2004 and served a prison sentence, although he later built a public image around business success, philanthropy and political access. His lawyers and representatives have denied allegations of wrongdoing linked to his business dealings.
He became a familiar figure on social media by giving away luxury vehicles and large sums of money to musicians, religious leaders, sporting figures and public personalities. He displayed photographs of meetings with presidents and senior officials across Africa, including leaders from Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania.
In Zimbabwe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he had met Chivayo after a cabinet meeting only a day before the crash. Mnangagwa described the businessman as philanthropic and said the sudden death of Chivayo and his wife had left him personally numb.
The crash has now placed Chivayo’s relationships, business dealings and political connections under renewed scrutiny. Gachagua’s claims have widened that scrutiny from questions about access and procurement to an allegation involving a sum larger than Kenya’s annual national budget in recent years.
For now, the most firmly established facts are that Chivayo and his wife died alongside four others in the helicopter crash, that the cause of the accident is being investigated, and that Ruto publicly mourned the businessman as a close friend. The allegations about money allegedly held for Ruto and the claims concerning election technology have come from Gachagua, who has offered no supporting financial evidence in his public remarks.
Gachagua ended his account by accusing the president of obtaining the alleged money through theft. “And this is money you stole. Wacha ijisaidie watu wengine. That’s why he is so mad,” he said.
The accusation leaves Ruto facing renewed demands for an explanation of his relationship with Chivayo, even as Zimbabwean investigators continue examining the crash that ended the businessman’s life and brought his fast-growing regional influence to an abrupt halt.