Chimbetu’s Ghost Comes Alive
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...By SARAH NCUBE
Published: October 2, 2009
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ZIMBABWE – HARARE – One of the late Simon “Chopper” Chimbetu’s ten children Sulumani says he sees visions of his father.
“Every time I play music infront of a crowd I see his face. It inspires me; at first it used to be hard because when I played his greatest hits I would see some of his fans going crazy and it made me cry,” said Sulumani Chimbetu the most musically prominent son of the late great musician.
“Chopper” as his fans knew him passed away in August 2005 after he had briefly introduced Sulumani to the music industry. At the time of his death Chimbetu’s career was starting to take off for the second time after hitting rock bottom. His album 10 Million Pound Reward was to propel him to the top once again and that time around Sulumani was to be part of the team
“When he passed away I had only played with him for only a month. I was unfortunate to loose him before making a name for myself. His death hit me so hard that I dream of him at times,” added Sulumani.
Sulumani also revealed that times were not always rosy for the family while growing up- especially when his father went to “college”- a euphemism for prison used to refer to musicians that went to jail in the 90s.
“Life was tough when my father went to prison. I was about 9 years old and the only thing that the family survived on was through our father’s music income. So his brothers took over the music legacy to feed the family. It was not enough but we survived,” he said.
Chimbetu was sentenced to 7 years in prison for stealing a car but he served only 4 years of his sentence.
Sulumani now married to one Marygold and has a son named Simeon says the family is taking care of the material wealth left by his father.
“As a family we run a farm in Chegutu it now has more than a 100 cattle. It is a family business and no one has a single claim to it (referring to all the 10 children) our mother is still alive and we consider the farm as hers even though my elder brother Collen is in charge of the day to day running,” he said.
After Chimbetu’s death there was bitter fighting over his estate.
In one interview one of Simon’s two surviving brothers claimed that the estate of the late Simon Chimbetu has taken long to resolve because of the manner in which the companies he left behind were structured.
According to Allan, there were two companies — Dendera Musical Productions and Dendera Investments. In the former, Allan and Briam had 10 percent each with the remainder going to Simon and in the latter both had 20 percent each and Simon holding 60 percent.
Orchestra Dendera Kings was not registered; it was only registered as a company after the death of Simon, with Allan and Briam as the directors.
For some reason, Allan skirted around what Dendera Musical Productions was into, preferring to talk about Dendera Investments, which he said was the holding company for the farms, properties.
On the inheritance issue Sulumani said that it was not his place to comment since he is not the first-born.
“My brother is the one in a position to talk about inheritance issues,” he said.
Simon Chimbetu’s children are six boys and four girls namely; Collen, Sulumani, Saiwe, Ally, Tinotenda, Hazel, Malvin, Faith and Isabel. zimGossip.com
Sulumani,you are on the right track.I have just misplaced your mobile number .catch waves with me on 07886235698-fr.james.