By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
Selmor Mtukudzi, the songstress daughter of the late world-famous Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi, has revealed how she was so broke in the initial stages of her marriage that an uncle had to rent out an apartment to the newlyweds for next to nothing.
Selmor was speaking at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Harare on Wednesday during a service for Joe Nyamutumbu, who died early hours of Monday at an exclusive private hospital at the age of 68 after suffering a cancer-related stroke.
Nyamutumbu, a business executive who at one time became a shareholder and acting CEO of DHL Zimbabwe, was buried on Thursday in his rural village of Murehwa, where he was born and initially raised. He was married to Beulah, the youngest of Oliver Mtukudzi’s four sisters, bearing a son Nigel and two daughters Natalie and Jackie.
Selmor told a full audience on Wednesday how her uncle Nyamutumbu came to her rescue by letting his apartment, in a prime section of the Avenues residential area of central Harare, for an unbelievably small amount of money.
In a short but emotional urology, the third daughter of the late iconic Oliver Mtukudzi said her aunt’s husband’s gesture of generosity towards her, despite not being related by blood, aptly captured the man’s well-known authenticity.
“Pandakaroorwa, tanga tisina kwekugara (when I got married, we didn’t have a place to stay),” a teary Selmor, who is married to fellow singer Tendai Manatsa, rose to tell a packed auditorium on Wednesday afternoon.
“Murume uyu (this man), Uncle Joe, Adhazh, vakatipa flat rawo mu town vachitibhadharisa two cents chaidzo (he offered us his flat in town and charged us two cents rent). Even though, two cents idzodzo taitombotadza kudzibhadhara (we would even struggle to pay the two cents) and he would just say ‘it’s okay, guys, it’s okay’.”
British-trained Nyamutumbu bought the Avenues pad when he was still a bachelor after returning home to Zimbabwe from overseas in the early 80s. He would go on to acquire more property in Harare’s affluent suburbs after he settled down and started to build a successful career in the corporate world.
Nyamutumbu – Uncle Joe or Adhazh to many – was known in his younger days as a high-flying socialite and quite the man about town, yet remaining firmly grounded and committed to his wife and children.
Success and status though never changed Nyamutumbu the slightest bit, until the end. He kept his trademark humility, kindness, and simplicity. Friends, family and other relatives alike spoke of how they will fondly remember these qualities of him, in addition to his frequent burst of deep and hearty laughter.
Different speakers glowingly narrated Nyamutumbu’s lifetime, most speeches laced with good humour in honour of their departed loved one. Sister-in-law Bybit Mtukudzi induced chuckles when she explained how, during the traditional marriage ceremony for her young sister Beulah and Nyamutumbu in the 80s, women went to fetch water using a car – a rarity those days.
Nyamutumbu’s middle daughter Jackie also moved the audience with a spellbinding speech, describing how her father rose from being a “simple rural boy in Murehwa”, to overseas university education in the 80s, to becoming “a ghetto boy back home in Zimbabwe”, and the swift transition into to a man of means and a “fine British gentleman.” She also recounted how, when she was studying in the United States, her well-travelled father calling her from Zimbabwe to recommend places that she should visit across the US.
In his later years, Nyamutumbu dedicated his life to his Christian faith and the church, although he remained loyal to his social circles despite failing health.
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