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George Maponga in Masvingo

He was fluid with cash and famous in life and right into death. Wherever he went, women gravitated towards him and so did hordes of hangers on.

For Lucky Zachariah Munorwei, the fate that plunged his life into the public domain must have come with an extra attrition, as, upon his death, there were two graves dug for him while several women circled around like vultures.

Munorwei, a gold dealer, was one of the most famous and colourfully decorated celebrities of Mashava, a small town west of Masvingo City.

Sometime in 1999, a 16-year-old spike haired Munorwei, emigrated to the mining town, Mashava, with his family and siblings.

In no time, the young and adventurous boy had joined the artisanal gold mining bandwagon.

Lucky duly obliged by lighting his journey to spur a meteoric rise to the apex of trade in the gold-rich Mashava.

Lucky, just like his name was fortunate enough to rise to be the biggest and most prominent gold buyer in the mining town up to the time of his death in the early hours of October 9 following a horror road crash.

On the fateful day, while driving alone towards Masvingo, Lucky hit a stray cow along the Harare-Beitbridge highway around the Mushagashe area, resulting in his vehicle overturning.

He was rescued from the wreckage alive, but the severe injuries he sustained took their toll on him and he breathed his last around 2am at a Bulawayo medical facility.

While his death plunged Mashava into mourning, the situation was no better in Masvingo City where he had also established an extensive business network and was also sometimes his home.

Lucky’s known house in Masvingo was in Majange suburb, though he was reported to also have houses in Mashava and even yonder Zvishavane.

His unexpected demise also cast the spotlight on his personal life with a lot of theories being thrown around about the exact number of wives and children he had.

As a rich gold miner and buyer, close pals said Lucky’s wealth grew exponentially that he became the de facto top dog in Mashava such that his bands of followers called him “Mashava Boss or King”.

Following his death social media was abuzz with rumours and theories about the exact number of wives and children he had.

Some reports claimed that he had more than 20 wives and over 30 children.

Reports claimed that the famous Mashava gold baron had paid lobola for all his more than two dozen wives.

The rumour mill claimed each of the wives had a house, which he allegedly bought using Lucky’s rich pickings from gold.

In his lifetime the subject about his family was spoken in hushed voices making him an enigmatic character.

His personal life remained largely unknown,  forcing people to continue speculating. Lucky easily earned notoriety for his acumen in the gold trade and unmatched prowess to prey on the fairer sex, no wonder the many wives he had.

What, however, made him an enigma was the rationale behind marrying paying lobola for so many wives simultaneously and also siring children with each one of them.

Some of his acquaintances in Bere township in Mashava who spoke anonymously said he had more than 20 wives and children.

“He had so many wives that it is hard to count them because more are still coming forward even after his death. It would be a lie for one to say exactly how many wives he had because the guy had many lovers and he made sure he paid lobola for all of them,” alleged a Bere resident who was close to him.

Another resident weighed in, claiming Lucky also had many children, with the oldest aged around 13 years.

“ I know his first born. He is doing Form 1 now, but if we are to talk about his children who are four years and below, I think we will lose count. He approximately had over 25.”

Some of his co-workers in Mashava refused to discuss his private life, saying it was taboo.

“We can discuss everything else, but the topic of how many wives and kids is a no go area. Just know he was our boss, nothing more,” said one of them.

Sifting through the information about his personal life provided by friends, relatives and acquaintances alike leaves one concluding that the late gold baron did wink when it came to paying lobola for any lady who would have stolen his heart.

“My brother, we would be lying to you if we claim to know the exact number of wives and children he had. Nobody really knows, maybe the relatives. No one knows how many properties he had because they are scattered all over Masvingo City, Zvishavane and here in Mashava,” alleged another acquaintance who refused to be named.

Lucky the enigma in life continued to be one in death.

After his death, two graves were dug, yet only one would be his final resting place.

As if that is not enough, his remains were finally interred in a graveyard on the outskirts of Bere township in Mashava around 8pm on Tuesday evening.

There was a dispute over his final resting place between his friends, family and business partners, resulting in one grave being dug at Mangwandi Cemetery in Masvingo and another in Mashava.

However, by the time the dust had settled, Lucky had been buried in Mashava amid reports that “his people” there demanded that he must rest till eternity in the company of his own family.

“As far as the issue of Lucky’s final resting place is concerned, we the people of Mashava, especially us his workers, made it very clear that our boss could only be buried here.

“Lucky was the Boss of Mashava and his umbilical cord was nurtured here. There is no way he could be buried in Masvingo amongst strangers who only knew him after he made lots of money,” charged one of the late Lucky’s workers commonly known as Bhonjisi or Chief Chibhola in Mashava.

Bhonjisi, who was employed by the late Lucky to tend his dogs in Mashava, said the people in the mining town took Lucky as one of their own.

He also explained circumstances behind burial proceedings ending around 8pm, while also dispelling rumours that dynamite was used to break a hard rock during the digging of his grave.

“To us the late Lucky was the Boss of Mashava because our lives depended on him. He was a good man and a benefactor for many poor families here.

“He assisted bereaved families here in Mashava and even gave upcoming entrepreneurs capital for their business.

“He was a very loved man and his death has left a huge chasm such that we don’t know where to go from here,” said Bhonjisi.

Bhonjisi said more than 500 people attended Lucky’s burial while the number of cars surpassed 100.

“This alone shows how his death impacted on many people from all corners of Zimbabwe. We had to bury him where his late child was also buried.”

He added: “Burial proceedings started late on the day and the situation was worsened by the hard rock we encountered at the grave site. We had to use a small jack hammer to dig the grave and proceedings ended 8pm.”

Lucky’s young brother, Calvin Munorwei (35), moved to swiftly dismiss claims that his brother had more than 20 wives and children.

He said his late brother was a hardworking and successful businessman, insisting that the number of wives and children he had was way less than what was being claimed on social media.

“My brother had nine wives and 16 children not the lies that are being purveyed by people. There is no controversy here, Solomon (Biblical) had how many wives? I don’t think there is anything wrong if a person marries many wives as long as he can take care of them,” said Munorwei.

“My brother was known to the families of all his wives and he was able to look after them. I don’t see anything wrong with that, he had his own reasons why he chose to do that and it must be respected.”

Lucky’s young brother also cleared the air on the two burial sites fiasco.

“It’s unfortunate that things went the way they did (two different graves for Lucky) but we agreed to bury him here home in Mashava after consultations with the elders.”

Calvin also said besides being into mining and buying gold, his late brother was also a musician and at one time ran a recording studio in Mashava, Liquid, that was identifying untapped talent in the mining town.

Asked whether their family could take stock of all the late Lucky’s assets and many wives and children, Calvin said his brother’s demise did not mean it was end of the road.

“We are still compiling a list of all his properties and we will engage lawyers to help in that respect. We will look after his children and tradition will guide us on what to do with his wives.”

Asked how he will remember his late brother, Calvin said Lucky was prominent and successful and had lived a full life.

On the issue of whether Lucky had millions of United States dollars, Calvin quipped before repeating that his late brother was successful in life.