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Meet Wicknell Munodaani Chivayo. 43 years old. Zimbabwean. Founder of Intratrek Zimbabwe. Known locally as "Sir Wicknell." He calls President Ruto his "father and mentor." He has visited State House Nairobi, Sagana State Lodge, and Wajir State Lodge. In February 2026, he was granted a Kenyan passport a fact made public not by the government, but by activist Boniface Mwangi.
Here is what Kenya needs to know about the man collecting Kenyan travel documents and government-adjacent contracts while barely out of Zimbabwean courtrooms.
In 2004, Chivayo was convicted of theft and illegal foreign currency exchange money laundering and sentenced to three years in prison, which he served at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. Not alleged. Convicted. Served time. Behind bars. In a maximum security facility.
He rebuilt. In 2015, his company Intratrek Zimbabwe was awarded a contract to construct a 100-megawatt solar power plant in Gwanda, for which it received an advance payment of US$5 million from the Zimbabwe Power Company without carrying out substantive work on the project. The lights never came on. The solar plant was never built. The $5 million was gone. He faced multiple rounds of criminal prosecution over the advance payment but due to his close alleged links to Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, he was ultimately acquitted in 2024. Close political connections are a remarkable legal strategy. Highly effective. Zero costs.
Then in 2024, leaked audio recordings linked him to a US$100 million contract for the supply of election materials to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. His former business partners accused Ren-Form and Chivayo of inflating costs by up to 235%. South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre investigation concluded that more than R800 million was transferred to the business bank accounts of Wicknell Chivayo from this deal. In December 2025, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission closed its probe saying it could not find contractual evidence tying him to the deal. However, sources told the Zimbabwe Independent that the Hawks' investigation in South Africa was "very much alive." In April 2026, a South African High Court issued an anti-dissipation order freezing assets, bank accounts, and a private jet linked to several of his entities. South Africa's FBI equivalent is still on the case. The jet is frozen. The investigation is alive.
Now here is the Kenya chapter.
In June 2026, ZimLive reported that his company IMC Construction Kenya had won a stake in a US$2.9 billion contract to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport joining the Chinese state-owned China Communications Construction Company and its subsidiary, China Road and Bridge Corporation, as a joint venture partner. This is the same airport the Adani Group was supposed to expand until that deal collapsed in late 2024 following a US corruption probe and public backlash.
COFEK the Consumers Federation of Kenya had already petitioned the High Court in petition No. E083 of 2026 to bar Chivayo from Kenya entirely, citing his fraud and money-laundering record and tender scandals in Zimbabwe, including the Gwanda solar project and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission contracts. COFEK said IMC Construction Kenya is wholly owned by Chivayo and that the lobby raised concerns the company lacks an airport construction track record.
The government's response? Transport CS Chirchir said Chivayo does not appear in any bidding documentation as a contractor, partner, or joint-venture member. "We don't know this gentleman. I saw him for the first time in the media. He is not in any of our documentation," he said.
"We don't know this gentleman."
The same gentleman who visited State House. Who visited Sagana State Lodge. Who visited Wajir State Lodge on June 1, 2026 to discuss multimillion-dollar investment projects. Who was issued a Kenyan passport in February 2026. THAT gentleman, the government does not know him.
Here is what Kenya needs to know about the man collecting Kenyan travel documents and government-adjacent contracts while barely out of Zimbabwean courtrooms.
In 2004, Chivayo was convicted of theft and illegal foreign currency exchange money laundering and sentenced to three years in prison, which he served at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. Not alleged. Convicted. Served time. Behind bars. In a maximum security facility.
He rebuilt. In 2015, his company Intratrek Zimbabwe was awarded a contract to construct a 100-megawatt solar power plant in Gwanda, for which it received an advance payment of US$5 million from the Zimbabwe Power Company without carrying out substantive work on the project. The lights never came on. The solar plant was never built. The $5 million was gone. He faced multiple rounds of criminal prosecution over the advance payment but due to his close alleged links to Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, he was ultimately acquitted in 2024. Close political connections are a remarkable legal strategy. Highly effective. Zero costs.
Then in 2024, leaked audio recordings linked him to a US$100 million contract for the supply of election materials to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. His former business partners accused Ren-Form and Chivayo of inflating costs by up to 235%. South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre investigation concluded that more than R800 million was transferred to the business bank accounts of Wicknell Chivayo from this deal. In December 2025, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission closed its probe saying it could not find contractual evidence tying him to the deal. However, sources told the Zimbabwe Independent that the Hawks' investigation in South Africa was "very much alive." In April 2026, a South African High Court issued an anti-dissipation order freezing assets, bank accounts, and a private jet linked to several of his entities. South Africa's FBI equivalent is still on the case. The jet is frozen. The investigation is alive.
Now here is the Kenya chapter.
In June 2026, ZimLive reported that his company IMC Construction Kenya had won a stake in a US$2.9 billion contract to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport joining the Chinese state-owned China Communications Construction Company and its subsidiary, China Road and Bridge Corporation, as a joint venture partner. This is the same airport the Adani Group was supposed to expand until that deal collapsed in late 2024 following a US corruption probe and public backlash.
COFEK the Consumers Federation of Kenya had already petitioned the High Court in petition No. E083 of 2026 to bar Chivayo from Kenya entirely, citing his fraud and money-laundering record and tender scandals in Zimbabwe, including the Gwanda solar project and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission contracts. COFEK said IMC Construction Kenya is wholly owned by Chivayo and that the lobby raised concerns the company lacks an airport construction track record.
The government's response? Transport CS Chirchir said Chivayo does not appear in any bidding documentation as a contractor, partner, or joint-venture member. "We don't know this gentleman. I saw him for the first time in the media. He is not in any of our documentation," he said.
"We don't know this gentleman."
The same gentleman who visited State House. Who visited Sagana State Lodge. Who visited Wajir State Lodge on June 1, 2026 to discuss multimillion-dollar investment projects. Who was issued a Kenyan passport in February 2026. THAT gentleman, the government does not know him.
