Controversial Zimbabwean tycoon Wicknell Chivayo wins a stake in Kenya's $2.9 billion airport expansion deal

Wicknell Chivayo, the controversial Zimbabwean businessman with close ties to Kenyan President William Ruto, has secured a stake in the Sh375 billion ($2.9 billion) tender to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, reigniting concerns about government procurement transparency less than two years after the same project's previous award to India's Adani Group was cancelled following a corruption investigation.

Chivayo's company, IMC Construction Kenya, has been brought in as a joint venture partner by China Communications Construction Company, the Chinese state-owned construction giant, alongside its subsidiary China Road and Bridge Corporation. The consortium was awarded the contract following a competitive bidding process after the Adani deal was terminated earlier in 2026, according to reporting by ZimLive and confirmed by multiple Kenyan media outlets including the Standard and Kenya Times.

Chivayo, 45, is the sole owner of IMC Construction Kenya. The project includes the construction of a new passenger terminal and an additional runway at Kenya's busiest airport, which currently handles nearly 8.8 million passengers annually, exceeding its original design capacity. A new runway is scheduled for completion by 2029 and is expected to increase airfield capacity from 14 to 63 aircraft movements per hour.

Kenya will contribute $1.3 billion toward the project, with the remainder financed through local and Chinese banks. The country established the National Infrastructure Fund using revenues from the privatisation of the Kenya Pipeline Company to address funding constraints that had delayed the project.

The award has drawn immediate public scrutiny, not for the construction merits of the consortium but for Chivayo's personal proximity to the Kenyan presidency. Chivayo has made multiple high-profile visits to State House, describing Ruto as a father and mentor in a public social media post in January 2025. In January 2026, he met Ruto and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki at Sagana State Lodge. On June 1, 2026, he visited the newly built Wajir State Lodge, disclosing he was in discussions with Ruto about multimillion-dollar investment projects.

In March 2025, Chivayo's company Intratrek Zimbabwe signed a $2.5 billion agreement with China's Chint Group for energy transmission projects in Kenya and Tanzania. Companies associated with him have secured contracts worth nearly $1 billion in Zimbabwe, according to ZimLive.

Chivayo's business career has been consistently accompanied by allegations of fraud and irregular procurement in Zimbabwe. He began working life at 15 after his parents died and built a business empire that has drawn as much scrutiny from Zimbabwean courts and civil society as it has commercial success. His lawyers have consistently denied the allegations against him.

The JKIA award rekindles public anger that was directed at the Adani Group deal in 2024, which was cancelled after mass protests in Kenya and a corruption investigation by US authorities into Adani principals. The new award to a consortium that includes a company whose sole owner has cultivated an unusually visible relationship with the Kenyan president has prompted fresh calls for procurement transparency from civil society and opposition politicians.