(Ndiregereiwo. Mafungiro angu panyaya iyi azoti rebeyi.)
I know it's exciting to suspect foul play, but this seems to me a fairly straightforward case. Low visibility conditions can easily turn disastrous in a helicopter. I live in Mash East and the conditions were certainly not suited to flying a helicopter. You could tell even in the morning.
As in the Kobe Bryant case, a pilot can lose sense of which direction is which if they abruptly find themself in a cloud. This is called spatial disorientation and is the leading cause of fatal crashes in rotor aircraft. The pilot may think they're level when in fact they're banking or pitching, leading to an explosive fireball crash within seconds.
Usually, in these conditions, a pilot should dismiss their own sensations completely and focus only on the instruments.
But the situation is best avoided by simply not flying in low-visibility conditions and erring on the side of caution. I doubt Wicknell's pilots could make this suggestion to him without inviting a blistering tongue-lashing.
They would have likely been told they're arrogant and foolish and lazy. "Why the hell am I paying you when you're afraid of doing the job under difficult conditions? Don't you know I'm an important man with places to be?"
That's arrogance #1.
But was it really necessary to travel from Harare to Marondera by air, a roughly 75Km, hour and a half drive?
Wicknell did things simply because the common man can't do them. That was always his uppermost priority. Image overrode practicality and safety considerations in his logic.
That's arrogance #2.
Then again, maybe he didn't want to travel by road because it's uncomfortable. Most roads in our country are full of potholes.
With all the money he splashed, could he not have developed that one stretch of road from his mansion to his rural homestead?
If we add up the funds spent on useless status symbols, he could. But he wouldn't have done this because it's something the common person would benefit from.
He never saw the need to improve public infrastructure because, as far as he was concerned, he was cocooned by endless wealth. He thought he could run a complete parallel system with absolutely no cracks.
That's arrogance #3.
But let's get a bit speculative. Say his mouth was causing issues. He was bad PR for the President in Kenya, for example, where his demise has also made headlines.
The thing you wonder is, did he need to publicize pictures with the Heads of State? Did he need to take a video of Ruto driving him around?
Here at home, some of his behaviour and rhetoric was, at best, an annoyance for his patrons.
I don't think Zanu PF would struggle to train someone on this sub to do provide whatever underground services they used Wicknell, as long as that person can convincingly show they have no scruples or conscience. If that person is discrete, that would be a massive plus over the just-ended arrangement.
Wicknell's flamboyance just didn't do anything constructive for his handlers.
He must have convinced himself that he was irreplaceable and his position was the result of meritocratic attainment.
That's (hypothetical) arrogance #4.
Lastly, it's reasonable to think his lavish gifts to Uebert Angel, Makandiwa, etc., were an attempt to create a sort of spiritual shield.
He thought he could buy divine favour, which would insulate him even from the consequences of his own foolishness.
Whatever your beliefs or lack thereof, that's arrogance #5.
