The family of late music icon and national hero, Oliver Mtukudzi, has issued a statement advising Zimbabweans and fans to be wary of events organised in Tuku’s name without the involvement of the family or the management of the Tuku brand.
Here’s the full statement
As the Mtukudzi family would like to thank everyone who comforted us during the hard time when we lost a son, father, brother, uncle, husband and grandfather, Dr Oliver Mtukudzi.
We appreciate the support shown to us from everyone at this very hard time and we wish that such a gesture be accorded to everyone else at their time of need.
We are still trying to come to terms with the loss of our pillar of strength and as such we have not engaged any organization or individual to organize, plan any events on behalf and for the Mtukudzi family here in Zimbabwe and elsewhere. We would like to distance ourselves from any events or gatherings that are being held in the name of the Mtukudzi family as we are still grieving.
All events that have the endorsement of Tuku Music and the Mtukudzi Family will be posted on the official Tuku Music social media pages, the first such official event being the Cape Town jazz Festival that Dr Mtukudzi was meant to have performed at this year and the show will now be a celebration of his life in music by his backing band the Black Spirits. Facebook is Tuku Musik Official, Instagram is @drmtukudzi and Twitter @TukuOfficial and our email is tukumusicinfo@gmail.com
Having said this we would like to appeal to everyone to respect our wishes to have time to adjust as a family.
Once again we thank you for the love and touching messages of comfort that we continue to receive daily.
Thank you, God bless you all.
Oliver Mtukudzi died in Harare on 23 January 2019, after a battle with diabetes and was buried at his rural home in Madziva. He was declared a National Hero by the government.
Some events are apparently being organised in the name of the family without its approval.