Who is Lewis Uriri? Meet the lawyer who turned down Wicknell Chivayo’s Range Rover and Ksh13M cash gift
By Steve Ireri, September 23, 2026Zimbabwean lawyer Advocate Dr Lewis Uriri has found himself at the centre of widespread attention after turning down a brand-new 2026 Range Rover Sport Autobiography worth about Ksh32 million and an additional Ksh13 million in cash offered to him and his wife by businessman Wicknell Chivayo.
The extraordinary offer has brought the Harare-based Senior Counsel into the spotlight far beyond Zimbabwe’s legal circles, with many now asking who the lawyer is and how he built a career that has seen him handle commercially sensitive, constitutional and politically significant cases.
Uriri is a Zimbabwean advocate practising as a barrister at Zimbabwe’s independent referral Bar and keeps chambers at The Temple Bar in Harare, where he serves as Head of Chambers. He is also the founding President of the Zimbabwe Inns of Court, a professional body modelled around the traditional Inns of Court structure associated with legal advocacy.
His professional work extends beyond conventional courtroom litigation, with his official profile describing interests and experience in investment law, business transactions, commercial and corporate law, dispute resolution, civil rights and liberties and constitutional litigation.
He also serves on the panel of arbitrators maintained by the Commercial Arbitration Centre in Harare and is one of Zimbabwe’s four designated representatives on the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an institution established by the World Bank to provide facilities for the resolution of international investment disputes.
His journey into law
Uriri began his legal career as an intern at Honey & Blanckenberg, described on his professional profile as one of Zimbabwe’s oldest and most established commercial and general-practice law firms.
He joined the firm as an associate in 2001 and became a partner in 2003, spending several years involved in litigation and advisory work covering civil rights and liberties, commercial and corporate transactions, litigation, transnational disputes and alternative dispute resolution.
He left Honey & Blanckenberg in August 2007 and began practising at Zimbabwe’s independent referral Bar the following month.
His career subsequently expanded into professional leadership within Zimbabwe’s legal fraternity.
Uriri served as secretary and later treasurer of the Advocates’ Chambers and was also involved in the Bar Council and management executive committee of the Bar Association of Zimbabwe.
In 2013, he was part of the team that established The Chambers, which he later headed as its founding Head of Chambers.
Four years later, in 2017, he was again involved in efforts to internationalise Zimbabwe’s Bar through the establishment of the Zimbabwe Inns of Court, with The Temple Bar becoming its first set of Inns of Court.
Uriri is also an academic and legal educator
Away from his courtroom practice, Uriri has also been involved in legal education and professional training.
He is a former academic at the University of Zimbabwe, where he taught in both the Department of Private Law and the Department of Procedural Law.
He serves as chairperson of the Faculty of Advocacy Trainers of the Zimbabwe Council for Legal Education and is also a member of the Law Society of Zimbabwe Faculty of Advocacy Trainers, where his work includes training other trainers.
Uriri is additionally listed among the editors of the Zimbabwe Law Reports and is affiliated with organisations including Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Advocates International.
His professional profile also notes that he has participated in proceedings in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United Kingdom, as well as before regional and international tribunals.
His high-profile courtroom work
Uriri’s name has appeared in several cases involving prominent Zimbabwean figures and politically sensitive disputes.
Among the most widely reported was his involvement in the 2018 presidential election litigation involving then-President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.
Uriri was part of Mnangagwa’s legal team at the Constitutional Court during Chamisa’s challenge to the outcome of the 2018 presidential election.
His legal career has also taken him into disputes involving Zimbabwe’s opposition politics.
He represented Sengezo Tshabangu in litigation surrounding the controversial recall of opposition Members of Parliament and councillors linked to the Citizens Coalition for Change.
Tshabangu had emerged as a central figure in the recall saga after presenting himself as the CCC’s interim secretary-general, leading to a series of court battles over the legitimacy of the recalls. Uriri was among the lawyers involved in the litigation.
The breadth of these cases has meant that Uriri has at different points been associated with legal battles involving figures from different sides of Zimbabwe’s highly contested political landscape.
His official profile, however, presents his practice more broadly, highlighting constitutional law, civil liberties, commercial disputes, corporate litigation, investment law and international arbitration rather than limiting his work to political cases.
His professional relationship with Chivayo
It is Uriri’s former relationship with Chivayo that has now pushed the lawyer into the public spotlight.
On Monday, September 21, 2026, Chivayo publicly announced that Uriri would receive a new 2026 Range Rover Sport Autobiography valued at US$250,000, approximately Ksh32 million.
He added US$50,000, approximately Ksh6.5 million, for fuel and another US$50,000, also approximately Ksh6.5 million, for Uriri’s wife, whom he described as another senior lawyer.
The entire package was therefore worth about Ksh45 million.
Chivayo praised Uriri as a “Lawyer par excellence”, crediting him with brilliance, courage and commitment in handling his legal matters over the years.
But the lawyer did something that immediately transformed the story.
He said no.
Why Uriri rejected the Ksh45 million package
In a response issued after Chivayo’s announcement, Uriri said he and his wife had carefully considered the proposed gifts before deciding to decline the Range Rover and both cash payments.
He explained that the announcement had come as a surprise because he and Chivayo had last spoken in June 2024.
“The historical work to which your tribute refers was performed in my professional capacity and paid for in full,” Uriri said.
Uriri said the scale of the proposed gifts and their connection to his previous professional relationship with Chivayo required careful consideration.
He cited Zimbabwe’s Legal Practitioners’ Code of Conduct alongside international professional principles, saying that accepting such substantial personal benefits could create a perception of a financial obligation beyond a professional relationship that had already ended.
“My wife and I attach great importance to preserving both our professional standing and public confidence in our independence,” Uriri said.
The lawyer consequently maintained that the decision was firm and that neither he nor his wife would accept the vehicle or the cash gifts.
He nevertheless thanked Chivayo for recognising his past professional work and wished him well.