HARARE – Youth minister Tinoda Machakaire on Friday took a thinly-veiled swipe at tender millionaire Wicknell Chivayo, warning against the use of “power, money or office” to intimidate women.

The minister’s intervention came hours after Chivayo appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court and dropped cyberbullying charges against his ex-wife and her mother after they spent nearly a week in police cells and remand prison.

Sonja Louise Madzikanda, 34, and her mother Tabitha Madzikanda, 62, were arrested on May 16 and 17 respectively and charged with cyber-bullying and harassment. Chivayo and Sonja were married from 2019 to 2024, with the marriage subsequently annulled by the High Court.

It was alleged that during the marriage, Sonja had unlawfully accessed Chivayo’s phone and downloaded photographs and videos which she shared with her mother. Chivayo further alleged that the two women used artificial intelligence to generate photographs purporting to show him in the company of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa much earlier than May 3, when the South African presidency said Ramaphosa met him for the first time during his trip to Zimbabwe.

Bail had been opposed, with police arguing the accused faced a serious offence attracting imprisonment and were likely to reoffend if released.

Machakaire, posting on X after Chivayo dropped the charges, stopped short of naming him but the message was unmistakable.

“True leadership is not demonstrated through intimidation, abuse of authority or the misuse of influence against others, especially women and the elderly,” the minister wrote.

“No grievance, misunderstanding or separation should ever justify the use of power, money or office to suppress, intimidate or humiliate another family.”

Framing his post as both a personal reflection and a message to young Zimbabweans, Machakaire said children “learn more from our conduct than from our words.”

“As a father, I believe one of the greatest responsibilities of a man is to honour and appreciate the woman who carries and nurtures the children that become part of his family,” he wrote.

He closed with a call for restraint: “Peace begins with me. Peace begins with you. Peace begins with all of us.”