Family of Late Zimbabwean Businessman Wicknell Chivayo Says Gulfstream G550 T7-WMC Was Bought for Reported US$34 Million, Not Repossessed

The family of the late Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo has rejected online claims that he never owned the private jet associated with his name. Speaking through a close aide identified as Shamase, Chivayo's brother responded on X to claims that the aircraft was rented or repossessed after his death. Those claims had been spread by activist Munyaradzi Gwisai, known online as @matinyarare.

According to Shamase's post, Chivayo acquired the Gulfstream G550, registration T7-WMC, in April 2026 in a US$34 million transaction. The post said all relevant ownership papers, purchase receipts and invoices are kept safely by the family. The aircraft is currently in Basel, Switzerland, where it was sent for maintenance.

Shamase wrote that the jet's landing in Switzerland is a flight-tracking fact, whereas the claim that it was rented and repossessed is a separate allegation. He said the aircraft's departure does not establish a change of ownership, rental or repossession, and he challenged those making contrary claims to produce a bill of sale, a lease agreement or official ownership records. He also appealed for respect for the family, noting that Chivayo is no longer alive to answer the accusations himself.

Separately, Sonja Madzikanda has been proposed as co-executrix of Chivayo's estate, to be administered alongside his sister, Esther. At the time of Chivayo's death, Madzikanda had a US$25 million matrimonial property claim pending against him. The estate arrangement remains subject to approval by Zimbabwe's Master of the High Court.

Flight-tracking data shows where an aircraft is and when it lands; it says nothing about who holds title. That gap is why a jet sitting in a European maintenance facility can be described as rented, repossessed or privately owned by different parties looking at the same movement. In business aviation, ownership is settled by documents: a bill of sale, a lease agreement, registry entries. The family's challenge to produce exactly those records follows the logic of how title is actually proven.

The case also illustrates how an owner's death raises the stakes on a high-value asset. A US$34 million aircraft is likely to be one of the larger items in an estate, and it sits alongside a US$25 million matrimonial property claim that was pending when Chivayo died. Which asset is counted where, and on what paperwork, becomes more consequential once an estate is being administered rather than simply owned.

The next milestone is the decision of Zimbabwe's Master of the High Court on the proposed co-executrix arrangement with Sonja Madzikanda and Esther. Documents that the family says it holds, and that critics are being asked to match, would carry the most weight if they are ever produced publicly.