Correspondent|NYARADZO group chief executive officer, Philip Mataranyika recently sparked controversy when he personally drove and offered services at the late music icon and national hero, Oliver Mtukudzi’s funeral, with some accusing him of wanting to steal the limelight.

He even had a heated argument with staff from Doves as well as a senior government official who had clarified to him that it was Doves that was supposed to handle the funeral.

Mataranyika explains: “It was Maiguru Daisy [the late Mtukudzi’s wife] and the Mtukudzi family that chose Willowvale service centre as the venue of his chapel service ahead of our Hebert Chitepo Avenue branch due to its location, a stone’s throw away from Highfield where he was born and bred.

“Thirty-nine years after our independence, in his death, Mukoma Tuku becomes the first national hero to be laid to rest with full services provided by Nyaradzo Funeral Services.

“Given the many years of our friendship and brotherhood in which I was privileged to tap into his wisdom, inspiration and rare talent, I could not delegate the undertaking duties to our staff. For me personally, it was time to honour another of the unwritten contracts between brothers.

“Tuku had a unique relationship with Nyaradzo, built on our firm foundation of friendship, brotherly love and mutual respect dating back to our days as boys dzeku Fiyo. I have done this countless times, though. Some notable funerals where I personally offered services include Tobias Musariri, Paul Chingoka and Charles Mungoshi, among others.

“Even to date, I still go to our 120 Herbert Chitepo branch and they give me overnight assignments in any part of the country,” said Mataranyika in an interview with NewsDay.

Mtukudzi had a policy with Nyaradzo Funeral Services, which upon his death quickly moved in to prepare the body for its final journey.

However, the moment Dr Mtukudzi was declared a National Hero, the highest honour that can be conferred on an individual in Zimbabwe, it meant that certain protocol had to be followed.

Without wasting time, Government activated its systems through the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. The funeral services company which has a contract for burial of national heroes in Zimbabwe is Doves.

As is the norm, Doves instituted proceedings for a handover-takeover with Nyaradzo.

According to stipulations regulating burial of National Heroes, the company that handles the body of a hero needs its staff to have security clearance and for everyone to be bound by a non-disclosure agreement.

Phone calls were made between the two companies, times were agreed and a meeting place for the handover-takeover set. However, all hell broke loose when staff from Doves arrived at Nyaradzo’s Willowvale morgue to collect the body of Mtukudzi.

According to an eye witness, tempers flared as Philip Mataranyika, the chief executive officer of the Nyaradzo Group of Companies blocked the process, telling hapless Doves’ staff that there was no way they would pick up the body from Nyaradzo.

Even the arrival of the Permanent Secretary of Home Affairs Melusi Matshiya did not help matters as Mataranyika remained defiant.

The insistence by Nyaradzo Funeral Services to continue handling the body without being compliant with the above-mentioned prerequisites was somewhat in contravention of the venerated treatment associated with the burial of National Heroes or Heroines.

“There was a heated exchange between Mataranyika and the Perm Sec (Matshiya). The Government official tried to explain to Mataranyika that once a person has been declared a National Hero — it meant that the State was taking over but he wouldn’t listen,” said our source, who witnessed the drama.

“There is now a spin that Mataranyika drove that hearse out of respect for Tuku but the truth is that he was actually guarding the body of the singer. He took it upon himself to be the driver, guard and undertaker. He even threatened to take legal action over the matter. It is a good thing that Government, to avoid further drama, gave in and let Nyaradzo bury Mtukudzi,” The Sunday Mail reported a few weeks ago.

The issue did not, however, end there. Throughout the funeral proceedings, especially in Harare, Doves continued to shadow Nyaradzo just in case the company was asked by the Government to take over the funeral at the last minute.

The convoy even had two caskets, one with the body inside a Nyaradzo hearse and another carried by a Doves vehicle.

There was even confusion at the National Sports Stadium as to which car actually carried the body of the late national hero.

Philip Mataranyika the owner of Nyaradzo Funeral Services honoured Mtukudzi by personally driving the hearse with the national hero’s coffin.

According to an official from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, the position of Government was that Doves understands the protocol and they meet all the requirements for such high profile burials.

Negotiations are said to have continued behind the scenes as Government officials hoped to convince Mataranyika to handover the body to avoid logistical nightmares and protocol breakdown. These yielded nothing.

Mataranyika also took the NewsDay interview opportunity to explain how he started the company that is now a household name throughout Zimbabwe and beyond.

“On March 1, 2001, with only 10 of us, we followed our dreams and opened our hearts and doors to the public as Nyaradzo Funeral Assurance Company. A few years later in 2003, Eureka Insurance Brokers was born.

“Old Mutual, where I had worked for 15 years, were generous to provide us with office accommodation on the ninth and tenth floor of one of their prestigious properties in Harare. Eighteen years later, we have grown into a sizeable organisation with a staff complement of over 1 500 and more than 42 service centres and branches countrywide, many of which we built from the ground.

“We now have a regional presence in Randburg, South Africa and soon we will have a global presence in England.”