The Oliver Mtukudzi Saga Continues As Four More Children Emerge

CONTROVERSY continues to stalk the family of the late national hero, Dr Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, as the entire clan gathers today in Madziva...

CONTROVERSY continues to stalk the family of the late national hero, Dr Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, as the entire clan gathers today in Madziva to decide how the vast wealth the singer left behind will be handled.

Close family members have indicated that Dr Mtukudzi did not leave a will, thus the family would have to take a multi-pronged approach in dealing with the issue starting with the parcelling out of Tuku’s “personal” belongings.

The issue of “personal Tuku belongings” versus Tuku Music property (the company assets) has already caused an uproar in the family after Norton-based artiste, Mbeu, played Tuku’s acoustic guitar at the Cape Town Jazz festival last week. Culturally, a deceased person’s belongings should not be touched for a specified period until certain rituals are done followed by the distribution of the property to various family members. Tuku’s guitar was expected to be among the items that were not supposed to be tempered with until yesterday’s memorial and today’s ceremony where the personal articles are set to be apportioned.

Dr Mtukudzi’s eldest daughter, Sandra, expressed anguish that her father’s guitar had been given to a “stranger” to use before the necessary observances were done. “A lot of activities were put on ice because of this weekend’s ceremony. Why should Mbeu play our father’s guitar? This is a stranger and already he is being given our father’s property. It does not make sense,” said Sandra.

After the parcelling out of Tuku’s personal belongings to family members today — the family is set to then turn to the country’s laws for guidance, starting with the registration of the deceased’s estate. Efforts by The Sunday Mail Society to establish whether the estate had been registered or not, which is a public record, were futile. However, close sources revealed that Daisy had been in constant touch with a team of lawyers but it was not clear if she had registered the estate with the courts so that an executor is appointed. All this information is likely going to be divulged at today’s gathering as the various interested parties seek clarification on the burning issue.

“She (Daisy) only needs to go herself and one other person who uses Mtukudzi’s surname. She could have used her daughter and no one would be the wiser,” said our source, who cannot be named as they are not sanctioned to speak for the family. Tete Bybit, one of Dr Mtukudzi’s surviving siblings, said she was in the dark about the goings on but confirmed that she was headed to Madziva for the memorial.

“I don’t know the intricacies of the programme as yet but I’m leaving for Madziva either today (Friday) or tomorrow morning,” she said, adding, “I could put you in touch with people that have the information but I doubt they would talk to you, so it is a waste of time.”

Sandra also confirmed she was on her way to Madziva together with her sister Selmor and other family members but she said the only thing they were sure of was the date (April 6) and venue (Tuku’s rural homestead in Madziva), as that had been agreed on at the funeral of Dr Mtukudzi.

And then they were 10

Skeletons are beginning to tumble out of Dr Mtukudzi’s closet. The Sunday Mail Society is reliably informed that four grown-ups claiming to be Dr Mtukudzi’s children have emerged. Of the four, two are male and the other two are female, all with different mothers. This brings the number of the late Dr Mtukudzi’s official and unofficial children to 10. “There are the four girls — Sandra, Selmor, Samantha and Sybil. Then there is the official out of wedlock son, Selby, whom you may be aware has a birth certificate. Then there is the young woman from Bulawayo to make them six.

“With the arrival of these four, the number now rises to 10. Some of them have actually been kuma D (the Old Highfield home where Mtukudzi grew up). Vana tete vanoziva vazukuru vavo. Vese vanosvikira pa 3081 (the aunts know their nephews and nieces. The new kids go to the family home first),” said a close family member.

When The Sunday Mail exclusively revealed that Dr Mtukudzi had another son, Selby, soon after the death of Samson aka Sam in 2010, the family vehemently denied the story. However, Mtukudzi himself is said to have been at peace with having Selby as the official out of wedlock son, although he would never publicly admit it.

“Nzou actually knew everything about Selby and what he was up to including that when he (Mtukudzi) got seriously ill his boy was in Lesotho. They were in constant touch,” said our source.

When confronted with the information, Sandra and Selmor could neither confirm nor deny the existence of other children by their late father.

However, Sandra said the whole family had been inundated with phone calls since the death of Dr Mtukudzi from people claiming to be his children with some of them even willing to do DNA tests. Culturally, yesterday’s memorial and today’s proceedings are the appropriate days when such children, if they truly exist, should show up with their relatives to claim their stake in the family.

Unity, unity, unity

We reached out to one of the late Dr Mtukudzi’s nephews, Nigel Nyamutumbu, a refreshingly candid character, who confessed that the family drama was taking its toll not just on him but the entire family.

Better known as Kabila, Nyamutumbu is Beulah, Dr Mtukudzi’s younger sister’s son. Kabila said the issue of unity in the family was one of Dr Mtukudzi’s dying wishes, something he regretted not having done sooner.

“I saw Nzou cry three times.

‘‘The first time he was thanking ambuya (Daisy) for everything she had done for him. Ambuya is someone who is very organised, has a saving culture and took care of Nzou when he was sick even as far back as the ’80s. Nzou was sick a long time, but she was there and he knew that and appreciated it. He said she turned around his fortunes.

“The second time was when he was talking about Selmor and Sandra. He wanted them in the fold but for some reason things looked complicated yet no one could even remember what they had done to each other to cause such acrimony. He said, ‘Dai vana vangu vaiziva zvandakavarongera’ (If only my kids knew what plans I have for them),” said Kabila.

He said the third time he saw Dr Mtukudzi weep was when he spoke about how he wished his whole family would unite.

“He said everyone has their specialty, which when combined with the strengths of others had the potential to produce something big. Nzou said we could all come together — caterers, merchandise people and so forth, and we would all benefit from the big brand he created,” Kabila added.

“That was Nzou’s wish. My wish and reading of the situation is that from now going forward,

it is the family’s intention to work together. We can’t go back and dig sins of the past, we all have to bury the hatchet

and start on a clean

slate,” he said.

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