The Zimbabwean businessman’s death has triggered an unusual social-media reaction, with some users openly celebrating while political leaders and others mourn him.
Wicknell Chivayo seemed to know everyone.
The flamboyant Zimbabwean businessman could be seen with presidents, celebrities, pastors and some of the continent’s most powerful people.
In Kenya, he was close to President William Ruto. In Tanzania, he was recently seen with President Samia Suluhu Hassan. He had also appeared alongside Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu and Malawi’s Peter Mutharika.
He was even pictured with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during Ramaphosa’s visit to Zimbabwe.
Then, on Wednesday evening, everything changed.
Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, were among six people killed when a helicopter crashed in the Marondera area of Zimbabwe.
And while condolences started coming in from political leaders and people who knew him personally, something else was happening online.
People were celebrating.
Also Read > The Extraordinary Rise of Wicknell Chivayo
Also Read > The Ginimbi–Wicknell Chivayo Connection
“Which mourning are we celebrating?”
That reaction has been particularly loud in Zimbabwe, Chivayo’s home country.
New Zimbabwe reported that social media users were openly celebrating his death, with the conversation spilling into bars, public transport and homes.
One user, Wonderson Julius, responded sarcastically after state media described Zimbabweans as being in mourning:
“Which mourning are we celebrating?”
Another user, Pablo Chimusoro, invoked a Shona saying — “Mabasa ako anokutevera” — essentially arguing that a person’s actions eventually follow them.
Then came one of the more brutal comparisons.
A user identified as Tjenesani wrote on X:
“The last time I saw people celebrate a downfall this hard was when they killed King Joffrey in Game of Thrones.”
Those reactions were not isolated. New Zimbabwe reported that hundreds, and potentially thousands, of people were expressing similar sentiments online.
That is what has left many people outside Zimbabwe stunned.
How does a man surrounded by presidents become this unpopular?
Chivayo had spent years building an image around his wealth and connections.
He regularly posted photographs and videos showing expensive cars, luxury gifts, private aircraft and meetings with influential people.
His relationship with Ruto became especially familiar to Kenyans.
The Kenyan President was filmed driving Chivayo and his wife during one of their visits, a moment that quickly spread online. Chivayo also appeared at events involving Ruto and his family.
Ruto has now mourned him as a “dear friend”, saying Chivayo’s energy, friendship and belief in Africa’s possibilities would be remembered.
But that warm description from the Kenyan President is a world away from what some Zimbabweans are saying online.
And that contrast is difficult to miss.
“We are not mourning”
Some of the anger appears to come from Chivayo’s controversial public image.
His extravagant spending made him hugely visible, but it also made him a target.
Critics questioned his proximity to Zimbabwe’s political establishment and the source of his wealth. His business dealings, including government contracts, had previously attracted scrutiny and allegations of wrongdoing, which he denied.
Some Zimbabweans online are now bringing those controversies back into the conversation.
They have questioned why they should mourn a man they believed represented the same political and economic system they were unhappy with.
That explains why some of the reactions have gone far beyond ordinary criticism.
People are not simply saying they disliked him.
Some are openly saying they are happy he is gone.
Yet there is another side
Not everyone is celebrating.
There are also Africans mourning Chivayo and remembering the more personal side of the businessman.
In Kenya, celebrity barber Joseph Cutz revealed that he had dreamed of cutting Chivayo’s hair for years. Chivayo had recently followed him back on Instagram, making him believe the dream might finally happen.
Then, just days later, Chivayo was dead.
Cutz wrote that he did not even know what to say after learning of the tragedy.
And then there is Ruto’s tribute.
For the Kenyan President, Chivayo was not simply a controversial businessman appearing on social media.
He was a friend.
That difference in perception is perhaps the strangest part of the entire story.
A man who was everywhere
Chivayo’s death has also reminded many people just how unusual his public life was.
One week he could be in Kenya.
Then Tanzania.
Then Zimbabwe.
Then appearing alongside another African leader or influential figure.
His social-media pages documented much of it.
He seemed determined to show the world exactly who he knew and what kind of life he was living.
Now, those same photographs and videos are being revisited with completely different eyes.
His final X post, published hours before the crash, has also attracted attention because he opened it with the words “APPRECIATING RELATIONSHIPS BUILT OVER DECADES… SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST.”
After news of his death emerged, users began questioning the wording and timing of the post. There is no evidence, however, that Chivayo knew he was about to die.
The reaction says something about his legacy
Chivayo’s death has created a strange split.
Those who knew him personally are mourning a friend, husband and businessman.
Some ordinary Zimbabweans online are looking at something completely different his public image, his political connections, his wealth and the controversies that followed him.
That is why the reaction has been so uncomfortable to watch.
In many African cultures, death is usually followed by condolences and a focus on the good a person did while alive.
With Wicknell Chivayo, social media has largely refused to follow that script.
For some, he was a generous and flamboyant businessman who moved freely among Africa’s powerful.
For others, he became a symbol of wealth and political connections that they deeply resented.
And now, even in death, Wicknell Chivayo remains one of the most talked-about men on the continent.
