Remembering Ginimbi

People make their names for different things, good or bad.

There are others, though, who attain fame naturally, without much effort, larger-than-life characters of our time.

You can say they are famous for being famous!

One such was the late Genius Kadungure, who dictated pace in his lifetime and in death.

Lovingly called Ginimbi by his legion of followers, death robbed his fans of a hard-worker and entertainer par excellence.

He loved his life and he lived it the way he wanted.

Ginimbi was a social animal of note.

Often, he surrounded himself with friends and an assortment of beautiful women, regularly hosting his all-white themed parties.

Let's face it, who didn't know Ginimbi?

Kadungure was born on October, 10, 1984, in a family of four. He would have turned 37 last month.

Ginimbi died on Novermber 8, 2020, in a road traffic accident along Borrowdale Road together with three friends Limumba Karim from Malawi, a model only identified as Elisha from Mozambique and our very own fitness trainer Mitchelle Amuli, who was more popularly known as Moana.

She was named Moana in social circles after the 2016 Walt Disney animation musical adventure of the same title.

Both Karim and Elisha had come to spend  the weekend at Ginimbi's mansion in Domboshava when tragedy struck.

They went out for Moana's 27th birthday party at Dreams Nightclub and died while driving back to Ginimbi's house.

The quartet died on the spot!

It has been one year since Ginimbi and Moana left mother earth but memories still linger of how the two managed their affairs on and off social media.

There has been a huge gap following the death of the two.

Even on social media the silence is loud.

As Ginimbi once declared: "My life. Your entertainment".

Who has replaced or can replace Ginimbi, many have been asking?

Unlike most people, Ginimbi matured at an early age.

He is said to have started engaging in small business transactions at the age of 17.  He soon became a middleman securing gas for domestic users through his company Pioneer Gas with interests in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

But he shot to limelight after he threw a birthday party which cost an estimated US$17 000 in Harare attended by socialites, celebrities, weirdos and groupies among others.

He became a man of the people and at every other party guests were treated to champagne which Ginimbi used to describe as "shampopo showers" for he made it rain.

His Instagram account was awash with lots of entertainment with women scrambling to flaunt their stuff to win instant cash prices.

And one most memorable moment was when Ginimbi's Instagram account was closed for nudity as women across the globe would participate in twerking contest, however stakes were high such that some women started stripping live.

The show was a hit among his followers.

Ginimbi would bring people together friends or foes they all sipped from the same bottle while slay queens, modern day sex workers also got a fair share at the parties.

Ginimbi would continuously make headlines good or bad.

I remember my last interview with him was a month before he died,  at "Ginimbi lifestyle, amusement park", where he shared his life story.

It seemed that he knew he was dying soon as he reminded me, "my brother enjoy life, you will soon miss it. I might not be here for long but you will remember that I was here, my Gucci robes, cars and of course the partying".

While Harare became "too small" for him, Ginimbi took his All White parties outside the country to Botswana and South Africa.

A whole bunch of his friends would be flown in First Class including personal assistants and DJs for the drinking binges.

On a serious note, way back in 2014 he was arrested and tried on allegations of defrauding a Kadoma-based miner of over R1,5 million.

Such is the life and times of Ginimbi, a man who made himself a household name in social circles more than in business.

He has inspired a generation of yuppies who brag about their riches although they run dodgy businesses.

Nowadays there are several socialites who want to follow in Ginimbi's footsteps with little or no success.

The reason being that Ginimbi lived a flamboyant lifestyle but he never made enemies.

His was to enjoy life and entertain people.

I salute you for that Ginimbi!

Oddly enough there are wannabes on social media who live fake lifestyles and cannot match to Ginimbi's standards.

There is an old adage that says: "If money talks let it speak" but all we see are people who claim to have loads money and yet they don't.

Every Jack, Dick, Tom and Harry wants to appear filthy rich and yet there have nothing to show for it.

Worse on social media especially Instagram, well it seems everyone is rich, motivator, entrepreneur, car dealer, gold mine owner and lives in mansion.

But a survey by this paper revealed that it was just fake lives, wanting likes on social media, in fact it is now business.

Instead, what is common now in social media circles is hate. People are hating each other instead of glorifying each other as what Ginimbii used to.

A quick look at some of the socialities we have now, some wannabes others struggling to make it , all you see is hate and self-praise while others have gone political.

Well, I won't mention names, rather I will be trending this coming week being bashed for hating them, yet I don't hate but I am just remembering you my guy!

It is because of these that one asks where the future of humanity is heading when people use social media to tear down others.

Half the time we see these so-called felebrities, socialites and celebrities on their Instagram pages no one feels good because they paint a glossy picture of how good their looks are, how expensive their cars or clothes are.

Instead of uplifting the lives of social media users they bring hell and make others feel less fortunate and insecure.

It is hard to find someone to replace Ginimbi for he went with all that he had.