The widow of the late Zimbabwean music icon Oliver Mtukudzi is the sole beneficiary of his estate, according to the state-controlled Herald newspaper.
The newspaper reports that a law firm has filed a one-page will indicating that Daisy Kudzai Mtukuzi will inherit all movable and immovable property.
The Herald reports that the singer’s children - Samantha, Sandra, Selmor and Sybil - and other family members were left out. But the matter is not yet over as court officials say the law firm, which filed by will, is no longer operational.
This comes at a time family members are fighting over property left by the late musician.
Thoughts Deme Attorneys at Law, filed the will dated April 15, 2014, believed to have been left behind by Mtukudzi.
The newspaper reports that Thoughts Deme Attorneys at Law appointed Chibune and Associates, a law firm currently under curatorship, as the executor of the estate.
According to the Herald, the will read in part: “I, Oliver Mtukudzi, born 22 September, 1952, presently domiciled in Zimbabwe, hereby cancel and annul all former wills and cordials and declare this to be my last will and testament. I nominate and appoint Chibune & Associates Legal Practitioners to be the executor of my last will and administrator of my estate and effects, hereby giving and granting unto him all such powers as allowed in law especially those of assumption and substitution and direct that my executor shall not be required to file security with the Master of the High Court in respect of his appointment.
“I hereby bequeath all my properties, share and shares in any company or companies or entities to my wife Daisy Kudzai Mtukudzi born on the second of February 1959.”
The Master of High Court is expected to call all beneficiaries and interested parties May 21 to attend a meeting to appoint an executor, identify assets and liabilities and potential beneficiaries and any other business relating to the estate.
The newspaper further reports that immovable properties declared in the inventory include original deed of transfer number 0009820/2003 in favour of Samantha and Oliver Mtukudzi, original deed of transfer number 8557/2007 in favour of Tuku Music Promotions (Private) Limited, original deed of transfer number 0005527/2008 in favour of Oliver and Daisy Mtukudzi, offer letters for subdivision 5 of Bloemfontein, Mazowe, in favour of Oliver Mtukudzi.
Movable properties include a Land Rover Discovery, Nissan NP200, Tata bus, Tata truck and a Challenger trailer. The late musician also left an undisclosed amount of money in his FBC Bank (Belgravia) account.
Mtukudzi died of heart failure related to diabetes in January this year, according to Damon Forbes, a record executive and promoter who had worked with him for more than 20 years.
Starting in the late 1970s, Mr. Mtukudzi recorded numerous albums — 67, by his count — and became a hero throughout Africa. Though an official figure was not available, conservative estimates suggest that he sold millions of albums over the past 40 years.