‘I have buried enough relatives’

Trust Khosa

CLOSURE is undoubtedly a prerequisite needed to ease sorrow in times of mourning.

This sense of resolution comes from accepting death as real. Some mourners take time to heal, while others require psychological therapy as a remedy.

There are, however, some who were born stronger and mentally fit to face the death of loved ones. This rare breed of mentally strong mourners is hard to come by.

This could be the case with Dendera exponent Allan Chimbetu, who lost six close relatives between 1986 and 2007, but remained strong. He claimed the 21-year period (1986-2007) taught him to embrace death as it comes.

In his own narration of events, Allan insisted he had no option, but to remain firm and resolute.

Reminiscing this period of agony in which he buried his blood, Allan fought back tears.

The first to meet the Maker was his mother (Elizabeth Chimbetu) who died in 1986.

His sister, Anna, breathed her last in 1994. After this rough patch, his father – Benson Chimbetu – died on August 7, 2005.

A week later (August 14), his elder brother, torch-bearer and family pillar, Simon “Chopper” Chimbetu, passed on at home in Mabelreign, Harare.

In 2006, another big brother – Naison – died after a long illness, piling the Chimbetu family’s misery. After gathering the strength to move on, Allan lost another elder brother Briam Chimbetu in 2007.

Now a father figure in the Chimbetu family, Allan had to man up and move on.

The new generation of Chimbetus pursuing music that looks up to Allan include Suluman, Tryson, Douglas, Marlvin and Saiwe. He has however remained grounded.

Taking The Herald Arts down memory lane, Allan shared how God used him to unite the Chimbetu family.

“There are times when you do not need to be reminded to be strong because courage becomes the only option for one to manoeuvre. I have seen quite a lot in my life from the time I lost some of my siblings and parents up to now. I am one person who always leaves everything to God when misfortune strikes because He is the one who can provide answers that we need. “In my family, I lost my heroes and heroines but we move on,” he said.

Allan, who fronts the Orchestra Dendera Kings (Central Committee), said he has devised a special way to handle death.

“If I was not stronger, I could have died from stress-related illnesses like depression, hypertension or even a headache. I am grateful to God because the path I walked with my brothers was not rosy.

“There are times when I find time to meditate and thank God for His protection. I thank God for saving me because we encountered many temptations in life with my brothers as we grew up.”

Allan, who learnt music from his late brothers, owed his breakthrough to God.

“From the time I started music, I do not regret it because it has made me the star I am.

“I am now earning a living from music and I will always dedicate this to my late brothers and God.”

A born-again Christian, Allan recalled how God made him defend his family for no price yet haters still taunt him.

“Growing up as a last born, I was mum and dad’s favourite boy but my brothers made me a man when I was still a boy. They all had high expectations of me but they all died in a short space of time, leaving us exposed. It meant that I had to step up and become a unifier of a big family by implementing what they taught me.”

As the father-figure in the Chimbetu family, Allan bragged that he had the key to the Dendera genre.

“People might pretend like I do not exist but deep down their hearts, they know that a person called Allan Chimbetu is there.

“I am the one with the keys to the genre and the torch-bearer when it comes to family matters. Ndini ndine tsvimbo dzacho. (I was ordained). It is a matter of time that close friends, family and the public realise the role I was given by the ancestors to look after the family. I have buried enough relatives and God made it purposely for me to be alive to witness all these things.”

Allan, who saved all his three late brothers – Simon, Naison and Briam with distinction – treated the trio equally.

“All my brothers were talented in many aspects and I would not want to make comparisons.  Fans are there to judge from what they witnessed but at the family level, the brothers were amazing. As for my sister Anna, she was a nice person while our father will always be missed. Our mother was a heroine who gave birth to us. She uniquely raised us as she always wanted us to prosper in our endeavours.”

However, Allan’s musical journey under the shadows of his siblings would mean nothing without mentioning Simon Chimbetu.

Allan, who was tainted as a greedy man after the death of his brother Simon in 2005, still laughs at reports.

“There are people who still portray me as an evil person after it was reported that I took away the cars, instruments, and stuff but time will tell. I could have defended myself long back but only God knows the truth and what happened. I realised that it was important to stick to my job,” he said.

“After all these years of persecution due to unfounded accusations, I had no choice but to learn to be strong enough. I have come to a point where I realised that people will know the truth, even 40 years after my death.”

Despite the misfortunes that have haunted the family, Allan has vowed to continue doing music.

“We will not stop doing music. I am actually releasing my sixth album later this month called Nyamukuta, which carries six songs.”

Besides “Nyamukuta”, which is due for release later this month, Allan boasts of a rich catalogue of albums comprising Sony released in 2006, “Professor” (2007), “Simukai” (2009), “Covenant” (2016), Urgent Matter (2020) and “Mhute” released last year.