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Showbiz Reporter
THE Mtukudzi family has said they are not ready to host or be part of any of Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi’s memorial concerts as they are still mourning the hero.

It has been a month since the superstar, who had been ill for some time, died. Many memorial concerts have been held in and outside the country in his honour with his daughters Sandra and Selmor performing at one of the concerts in South Africa recently. Another that was being organised by government and was scheduled to take place last weekend at the Glamis Arena was cancelled under unclear circumstances.

These circumstances were, however, made clear this week after the Mtukudzi family issued a statement and distanced themselves from the memorial concerts that have been held.

“We’re still trying to come to terms with the loss of our pillar of strength and as such, we have not engaged any organisation or individual to organise or 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.”

The family said all events that have the endorsement of Tuku Music and the Mtukudzi Family would be posted on the official Tuku Music social media pages. The first such official event, the family said, will be the Cape Town Jazz Festival that Mtukudzi was meant to have performed at next month.

“The show will now be a celebration of his life in music by his backing band, the Black Spirits,” said the family.

In order to avoid being duped by bogus promoters who are out to make money from Tuku events, the family said people should only rely on information they get from the late artiste’s official social media pages.

“Tuku’s Facebook page is Tuku Musik Official, Instagram is @drmtukudzi and Twitter @TukuOfficial and our email is [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>. Having said this, we would like to appeal to everyone to respect our wishes to have time to adjust as a family.”

The family however, thanked all those who have been comforting them during their time of need.

“We 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.”