Chivayo’s church gifts put money, power and silence at the centre of Zimbabwe’s debate
A Harare preacher who received US$100,000 and a luxury Toyota Land Cruiser from businessman Wicknell Chivayo has told worshippers that criticising President Emmerson Mnangagwa is “demonic”, adding to growing public anger over the businessman’s high-value gifts to church leaders and other public figures.
Apostle Rodney Chipoyera of Kingdom Prosperity Ministries made the remarks while addressing his congregation. He urged Zimbabweans to pray for the president instead of correcting him in public and described Mnangagwa as the country’s “national father”.
“This generation is rebellious to fathers. This generation can go online and start cursing fathers,” Chipoyera said.
“Exempt yourself from the nonsense of speaking against fathers. Even the national father, the president. You have no right to speak against him. You are too little. You are too young. It’s not politics; it’s spirituality.”
He continued: “When you speak against the president, you have spoken against a national father; he’s the father of Zimbabwe. No matter your political affiliations, he’s still a father. You shut your mouth when it comes to your father. Upward correction is demonic.”
“Whether very wrong or right, you are not qualified to correct your father. Are you hearing what I’m telling you? This thing is crucial and is the reason why many pastors will never go anywhere because they have no fathers.”
Chipoyera’s intervention has placed a new focus on the relationship between religious authority, political loyalty and private wealth in Zimbabwe. His comments came after Chivayo’s publicised gift to him in 2025: a brand-new 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series ZX Sahara and US$100,000 in cash. The donation was described as support for the work of God’s kingdom.
The connection between the gift and Chipoyera’s comments has become central to the public reaction. The preacher did not present his message as a political campaign speech. Instead, he placed the president inside a spiritual hierarchy in which criticism was described as disobedience to a father. His words have therefore been read against a background of repeated gifts from Chivayo to prominent church figures, many of whom command large congregations and have significant influence beyond the pulpit.
The most striking example came at United Family International Church in Chitungwiza, where Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa displayed US$1 million in cash before worshippers. The money was arranged in 20 plastic-wrapped bundles of US$100 notes and presented as a seed for church construction. The congregation responded with applause, whistles and rhythmic chanting as the bundles were placed on the altar.
“This is actually a prophecy,” Makandiwa told his congregants as he gestured toward the mountain of cash. “The next bag is coming from you to the altar. It cannot be that you go to your grave without delivering a million dollars here.”
Chivayo said the donation was meant to support Makandiwa’s plans for the church. “It is not about a man but it’s about the work of God. You spoke about construction so I will gladly donate US$1 million for the development of this church and for the vision you shared of building God’s house.”
The cash was accompanied by further luxury gifts. Makandiwa received a new 2026 Rolls-Royce Cullinan facelift, while his wife, Ruth, was given a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon. The display turned a private act of giving into a public spectacle, with the money shown in front of a congregation at a time when many Zimbabweans are struggling with the cost of food, transport, rent and school fees.
The latest gifts are part of a wider pattern. Chivayo has presented vehicles and cash to musicians, footballers, church leaders and figures associated with the ruling Zanu-PF party. His gifts have often been announced through photographs and social-media posts showing luxury vehicles ready for collection, sometimes alongside large cash payments. The recipients have ranged from well-known entertainers to religious leaders with large national followings.
Not every church figure has accepted the offers. Eunor Guti, widow of the late ZAOGA founder Ezekiel Guti, turned down a US$2 million cash offer and a top-of-the-range Toyota valued at more than US$300,000. Her decision drew attention because it contrasted with the public acceptance of other gifts and showed that the offers were not automatically welcomed by every religious institution.
Chivayo’s growing public profile has also been shaped by controversy over state-linked business. His company, Intratrek Zimbabwe, was awarded a US$172 million contract in 2015 to develop the Gwanda Solar Project, a planned 100-megawatt solar plant for the national grid. Zimbabwe Power Company advanced US$5.6 million before the project stalled.
ZPC terminated the contract in 2018, citing lack of performance. Court rulings later found that the termination was unlawful and upheld the validity of the contract, with the dispute linked to funding difficulties and unmet conditions that affected progress. A parliamentary visit to the site in 2024 found little visible development, while ZPC and Intratrek remained engaged in efforts to revive the project.
The stalled solar plant has remained an important part of the public discussion around Chivayo’s wealth. It was intended to add badly needed power to Zimbabwe’s grid, yet years after the contract was awarded, the project had not delivered the promised plant. That record sits uneasily beside images of million-dollar gifts and new luxury cars being handed to influential individuals.
There has also been scrutiny over a separate dispute involving the supply of election materials. A Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission inquiry followed claims that Chivayo had received millions of dollars as a facilitator in a 2023 tender involving the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. ZEC denied having dealings with him. Chivayo said an audio recording linked to the controversy was a deep fake and apologised to Mnangagwa for any impression that it suggested corruption involving the first family.
The inquiry did not result in charges by the time the matter was publicly reported in 2025. The episode nevertheless added to questions about how Chivayo built his fortune and why he has been able to move so comfortably among business, politics, entertainment and religious circles.
Mnangagwa has rejected the suggestion that Chivayo acts as his frontman. Asked about the businessman’s habit of giving away vehicles, the president said: “Where would I get the money to give him?… You can’t bother me about someone who is philanthropic.”
Chivayo has consistently presented himself as a benefactor whose money supports people and institutions he believes are advancing Zimbabwe. His gifts to churches have been explained as support for religious work, construction and evangelism. For worshippers who see the donations as blessings, the vehicles and cash represent generosity on an extraordinary scale.
For many others, the displays raise harder questions about influence and accountability. A preacher telling citizens that they have no right to criticise the president, soon after receiving a six-figure cash gift and a luxury vehicle from a businessman close to the political establishment, has made those questions more urgent. The issue is not only the value of the gifts. It is also the public authority carried by the people who receive them and the effect their words can have on national debate.
The events at Makandiwa’s church brought the same tension into view. A million dollars placed on an altar was presented as a sign of faith and a contribution to construction. It was also a reminder of the distance between the wealth displayed by a small circle of powerful figures and the economic pressure facing ordinary families in the pews.
As Chivayo continues to distribute high-value gifts, his name remains attached to a growing network of beneficiaries in Zimbabwe’s religious, cultural and political life. Chipoyera’s declaration that criticism of the president is demonic has intensified attention on that network, and on the influence that follows when money, public loyalty and spiritual authority appear together in the same national conversation.
At the centre of the debate is a simple question: when a gift comes with such public visibility, where does generosity end and influence begin? In Zimbabwe, the answer is now being argued from church pulpits, political platforms and the social-media pages where each new car, cash bundle and declaration is placed before the public.