Chihuri still in charge of Chivayo’s mansion

STAFF WRITER

The late Wicknell Chivayo had not fully paid for his Hollywood-style mansion in the affluent Gletwyn suburb bordering Chishawasha Hills, it has been learnt.

Chivayo reportedly paid only US$1.4 million in May 2024 to former police commissioner Augustine Chihuri for the lavish property, which was valued at US$2.5 million at the time.

“The fact and truth of the matter is that Chivayo had not fully paid for the property at the time of his tragic death last week,” the publication quoted a source as saying.

“The house in Gletwyn was valued at US$2.5 million, but Chivayo only paid US$1.4 million, and the balance was to be settled through ‘services’, which are very difficult to quantify and value in monetary terms, particularly when the buyer is now deceased.

“What this means is that Chihuri will have to decide what happens next because he wasn’t fully paid.”

It is alleged that the outstanding US$1.1 million was supposed to be settled through “political services” rendered by Chivayo — specifically, helping to resolve political tensions between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Chihuri that intensified before, during and after the November 2017 coup that brought the incumbent to power.

Chihuri had backed Robert Mugabe, opposed the coup and tried to use the police to foil it before fleeing to Malawi after its success.

According to insiders, the arrangement has created two fundamental problems.

First, the US$1.1 million balance was not cash-based and was never reduced to writing. How, sources asked, do you put a monetary value on “political services” when one party to the deal is now dead?

Secondly, there was a dispute over the value of the property itself. While Chihuri sold it for US$2.5 million, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA)valued it at US$7 million — a US$4.5 million discrepancy.

There was, in effect, no agreement on value.

Under Zimbabwean law, signing an Agreement of Sale and moving in does not confer ownership. In terms of the Deeds Registries Act, delivery and occupancy are only legally complete after full payment and conveyancing — including a Deeds Registry search to confirm a clean title under regulations such as Statutory Instrument 76, a rates clearance certificate, settlement of ZIMRA capital gains tax, payment of transfer fees and stamp duty, and lodging and registration of a new Title Deed.

That process was never completed. In the end, as one source put it: “Chihuri still holds the keys to Chivayo’s mansion.”

The mansion had its own chequered history. The State seized it in 2020 during investigations into Chihuri’s wealth, when the Government under Mnangagwa moved to confiscate an estimated US$32 million in assets and properties linked to the former police chief, accusing him of running a criminal syndicate and siphoning public funds during his 25 years at the helm of the police.