{"id":9965,"date":"2025-10-08T11:35:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T11:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=9965"},"modified":"2025-10-08T11:35:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T11:35:32","slug":"chivayo-fires-back-at-critics-defends-us172-million-gwanda-solar-project-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=9965","title":{"rendered":"Chivayo Fires Back at Critics, Defends US$172 Million Gwanda Solar Project Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br>Zim GBC News | Gender and Community<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Businessman Wicknell Chivayo has issued a robust public defense against ongoing allegations of misconduct surrounding the US$172 million Gwanda Solar Project, citing favourable court rulings to assert his and his company&#8217;s innocence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The controversy stems from a US$5 million advance payment made in 2015 by the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) to Chivayo\u2019s firm, Intratrek Zimbabwe, for a planned 100MW solar plant. The project has been under public scrutiny for years due to significant delays and a perceived lack of tangible progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a lengthy statement directed at Advocate Fadzai Mahere and other critics on social media platform X, Chivayo dismissed the allegations as a &#8220;personal vendetta&#8221; and challenged the legal basis of the accusations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;You seem fixated on RECYCLING questions that have ALREADY BEEN LITIGATED and BURIED by the highest courts of our Country,&#8221; Chivayo stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Addressing claims that Intratrek was an unqualified &#8220;middleman,&#8221; Chivayo detailed the company&#8217;s role, emphasizing its partnership with a global energy giant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Intratrek partnered with CHINT Electric Co. Ltd of China, the second largest solar PV manufacturer globally\u2026 Do you think such a behemoth of a company would partner with a shelf company?&#8221; he questioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He further defended the partnership model, stating,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Intratrek secured the LAND, NATIONAL project status, PRESCRIBED ASSET status, and all the local regulatory approvals without CHINT. That is called PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, madam Advocate, not &#8216;briefcase trading&#8217; as you allege!&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>On the critical issue of the US$5 million advance payment, Chivayo pointed to the judiciary, stating,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;The Supreme Court judgment already answered this issue\u2026 The advance payment was fully accounted for.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>He concluded by asserting that his company wins tenders fairly through compliance, not corruption, and hinted at the project&#8217;s future, stating,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Supreme Court also confirmed the contract is VALID, binding, and ENFORCEABLE\u2026 The project will therefore be implemented VERY SOON, once financial close has been achieved.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The statement marks a forceful public response from Chivayo as he seeks to counter the narrative surrounding one of Zimbabwe&#8217;s most high-profile and controversial energy projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow us on social media:<br>\u00b7X (Twitter): @ZimGbc<br>\u00b7Instagram: @ZimGBCNews<br>\u00b7TikTok: @ZimGBCNews_01<br>\u00b7Facebook: Zim GBC News<br>\u00b7YouTube: Zim GBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get real-time alerts on WhatsApp:<br>+263 773 820 323<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For in-depth coverage, visit our website: www.zimgbcnews.co.zw<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zim GBC News | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a92025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zim GBC News | Gender and Community Businessman Wicknell Chivayo has issued a robust public defense against ongoing allegations of misconduct surrounding the US$172 million Gwanda Solar Project, citing favourable&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-and-gender-affairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9969,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965\/revisions\/9969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}