The gift or the curse?
THE late socialite and businessman Genius “Ginimbi” Kadungure was financially gifted but there is a paradox where happenings in his family reflect the opposite.
Tragedy and a dark cloud have been hovering around the Kadungure family in the past four years with the family plunging into mourning for the greater part of the years.
The Kadungure family from Domboshava got to be known and hogged the limelight because of the controversial businessman Genius ‘Ginimbi’ Kadungure who became the darling of the streets and popularised the lingo “Mbinga” with his lavish lifestyle.
His sister Juliet died in a bus accident but it is a fact that she was a major beneficiary of her late brother's estate where she was co-executor with her younger sister Nelia — who likes the life of the bright lights!
On November 8, in 2020 the socialite died instantly in a freak road accident after a night of heavy partying at his nightclub Dreams Night Club in the capital.
Three other people, including a model and fitness trainer, also died in the accident, involving Ginimbi’s R5 million Rolls Royce Wrath, which collided head-on with another vehicle.
The speeding Rolls-Royce veered off the road and hit a tree before going up in flames, according to an eyewitness.
Two of those burnt to death were identified as Alicia Adams, a model, and a fitness trainer, Michelle “Moana” Amuli.
Ginimbi was known for his lavish birthday parties themed ‘All white party’ held annually at any chosen destination in Southern Africa. His last birthday bash in Harare reportedly cost more than US$50 000.
He had business interests in gas and petroleum. However, his lifestyle drew the attention of many because of his acquisition of supercars. His latest being a Ferrari 488 Spider to join his luxurious fleet which included Ranger Rovers, a Lamborghini, a Bentley and a host of Mercedes-Benzes, the most prominent one being a G Wagon.
In January 2019, Ginimbi buried his brother Andrew who succumbed to an undisclosed illness. Andrew who died on New Year’s Eve was sent off in a lavish funeral which was attended by high profile figures.
Andrew’s death was followed by Ginimbi’s mother's whose demise came exactly a year after Andrew’s.
Ginimbi’s mother, Julliana died at Harare’s Avenues Clinic after a battle with cancer in January, 2020.
Julliana’s death came exactly 10 months before the demise of her son, Ginimbi.
Last week, tradedy hit the Kadungure family as the world woke up to the death of Juliet in a road traffic accident, on her way back to Harare from Tanzania.
Coincidentally Juliet died on what could have been Ginimbi’s 39th birthday.
Another coincidence within the family is the death of Andrew and his mother in the same month, January.
Another coincidence leading to the rise of conspiracy theorists is the fact that two of the deaths were off chronic illnesses and the other two from road accidents — Ginimbi was 'thrown' out of the car, and only God knows how, so did Juliet.
Juliet's last whats App status was in remembrance of his late sibling Ginimbi on Tuesday.
She captioned Ginimbi's picture, "God you know better. Kuda kwenyu ngakuitwe"
This development gives credence to speculative reports that the family is 'cursed' through the late Ginimbi's alleged underworld dealings with juju.
The party boy, Ginimbi allegedly kept a snake and a coffin in his bedroom for rituals, but this was never proved.
Upon his death, his long time maid put it to the world that "I washed Genius' underwear and cleaned every room in his house, but he was a hard worker and used no juju as people say".
Her testimony was recorded live on video.
Juliet Kadungure was the eldest sibling in the Kadungure family, followed by Genius, the late Andrew, and the youngest, Nelia Kadungure.
This means that Nelia is now the sole surviving sibling, following the deaths of her three older siblings.
Posting on her WhatsApp status, Nelia said: “Mwari mandirwadzisa zvekare”.
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