By Chantelle Muzaenhamo
Harare – ZAOGA church matriarch Eunor Guti has broken her silence on why she turned down a lavish gift from controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo a package worth over US$2 million saying the offer lacked spiritual integrity and went against everything her late husband, Archbishop Ezekiel Guti, stood for.
The gift, announced by Chivayo on social media in May, included a brand-new 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser VXR 300 Series and US$250,000 in cash. He positioned the gesture as a tribute to the late Archbishop and claimed the vehicle had already been paid for and was simply awaiting the church’s approval for delivery.
But Eunor Guti wasn’t swayed.
“There was no mind or will of God in it,” she told her congregation in a recent address. “They can use that money somewhere else. We don’t want it, not even for our church projects.”
She said she was not tempted for a second even when someone she didn’t know was sent to pressure her into accepting the offer.
“This man was very serious, trying to push me into accepting. I told him I needed to pray, but I already knew I was going to say no,” she revealed.
Guti emphasized that the principles her late husband lived by left no room for such opulence.
“We have never seen our father receiving that kind of money. How can we start doing that now? We’re not desperate. We will not take money we do not understand,” she said.
While the US$250,000 was meant for her personal use and fuel, and the SUV was described as a tribute, Guti said it felt spiritually out of place and carried implications that were not aligned with her values or those of ZAOGA.
The proposal reportedly triggered debate within church leadership, with some in favor and others wary of damaging the church’s moral reputation by associating with Chivayo, whose wealth has long been under public scrutiny due to ties with questionable government contracts.
Guti also revealed that the Chivayo offer wasn’t the only one she had turned down.
“Someone else recently offered the church US$2 million,” she said. “I declined that too. It just didn’t feel right or godly.”
Chivayo is known for handing out luxury vehicles and large sums of cash to prominent figures, especially within religious and political spaces often accompanied by public fanfare. But for Eunor Guti, the decision to walk away from millions was rooted in conviction, not comfort.
“We’re not here to be bought,” she said firmly. “We follow God, not money.”