Tendai Ruben Mbofana
The sudden and tragic passing of tenderpreneur Wicknell Chivayo in a helicopter crash has sent shockwaves across the nation.
To directly receive my articles please join my WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
In the immediate aftermath of such a sudden calamity, public scrutiny naturally turns to those who claim to possess divine insight.
Prominent among them is Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa, a figure who enjoyed close proximity to Chivayo, even dining with him just days before the fatal accident.
As hard questions mount regarding how a self-proclaimed prophet—who received lavish gifts including a million dollars in cash from the businessman—failed to foresee and warn his benefactor of an impending disaster, a convenient narrative has begun to emerge.
Attempts are now being made to suggest that Chivayo himself had a premonition of his own demise, pointing to his final social media message as proof.
This attempt to manufacture a retroactive prophecy out of plain text is both intellectually dishonest and deeply insulting to public intelligence.
The claim rests entirely on distorting the opening line of Chivayo’s final, extravagant post: “APPRECIATING RELATIONSHIPS BUILT OVER DECADES… SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST.”
To spin this ordinary idiom into a supernatural farewell note requires a deliberate rejection of context, grammar, and basic common sense.
Chivayo was not writing an epitaph; he was concluding a highly publicized, self-indulgent spree of gifting luxury vehicles and massive sums of cash.
When he wrote “as I move on to the next person in this seemingly ENDLESS QUEUE of appreciation,” he was referring to his literal list of beneficiaries, not his departure from the mortal realm.
“Saving the best for last” is an everyday phrase used when reaching the climax of a sequence.
It simply means holding back your favorite item, biggest surprise, or most important person until the very end of a list so you can finish on a high note.
In Chivayo’s case, the sequence was a well-documented, multi-day spending spree where he publicly gifted luxury cars and cash to various acquaintances.
Retaining his most trusted advisers for the final post was a standard stylistic choice.
It was meant to give his long-standing mentors the grandest highlight in a string of public hand-outs—nothing more.
He saved Wilson Tatenda Manase and Advocate Sylvester Hashiti for the end of his public parade.
Every single sentence that followed in Chivayo’s post dripped with plans for the future, not the solemnity of a man preparing to meet his Maker.
He explicitly promised to personally coordinate high-security bank escorts for his advocate in the coming days, writing, “I will arrange top security and a cash in transit vehicle to escort you to your bank.”
He went further to tease his legal team about upgrading their wardrobes to designer brands like Prada, Ferragamo, and Louis Vuitton, adding, “I now expect to see you dressed in unique exclusive brands.”
A man who foresees his immediate death does not promise to personally book armored cash escorts next week.
Nor does he express playful expectations about what his friends will wear around town in a future he assumes he will be alive to see.
To take a post filled with forward-looking banter, administrative directives, and boastful generosity, and rebrand it as a prophetically inspired death notice is classic confirmation bias.
It is a desperate exercise in spiritual damage control.
When the public asks why a spiritual leader who claimed direct access to heavenly revelations was blind to a tragedy involving his closest ally, the path of least resistance is to claim the victim secretly knew all along.
By suggesting that Chivayo foresaw his end, Makandiwa and his defenders attempt to absolve themselves of their own blind spots, recasting a tragic blindside as a pre-ordained divine schedule.
This narrative relies on the hope that people will read headlines instead of the actual text.
But the text is clear.
Chivayo’s final words were not a mystic farewell.
They were the triumphant, albeit ostentatious, victory lap of a man who fully expected to wake up the next morning and continue enjoying his wealth.
He was looking forward to next week, next month, and the years ahead.
Makandiwa must not be allowed to hide behind flimsy linguistic gymnastics to cover for a clear failure of prophetic foresight.
If a prophet cannot see a fatal crash awaiting his own generous patron, he should simply admit the limits of his vision rather than twisting the plain words of a dead man to construct an alibi.
Wicknell Chivayo did not prophesy his death.
He was simply giving away cars.
Stop using his final act of grandstanding to make excuses for spiritual silence.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com