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Top actress Tinopona Katsande blocked from attending father’s funeral

Tinopona ‘‘Tin Tin’’ Katsande

PROMINENT actress and television personality Tinopona Katsande and her siblings were reportedly barred from attending the funeral of their late father Chief Nyamukohwo (real name Samson Katsande) in Mutoko last week, Zim Morning Post has reported .

Chief Nyamukoho died on Thursday after a long illness.

His second wife, Dorcas, had a sour relationship with Tino and her siblings following accusations that she was angling herself to take over the wealthy chief’s vast business empire upon his demise.

She allegedly kept the late 89-year-old traditional leader’s worsening health condition a secret from his five children.

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“The relationship between Chief Nyamukoho’s children from her first wife with Dorcas was messy,” revealed a trusted source who is close family member.

“She wanted to shut them out of the running of the family business which includes at least fifty shops inclusing the famous green complex at Murew Centre (Mapereke Complex). They even took each other to court.“

“So the children all knew his condition and constantly checked in him but when he eventually died, Mbuya Dorcas did not inform them about his worsening condition and even his death,” the source added.

Chief Nyamukoho suffered from advanced stages of dementia, requiring ‘surrogate’ assistance, as he could not perform any duties on his own.

Dementia is a condition which describes a cocktail of ailments including impairment in memory, communication, and thinking.

Zim Morning Post established that Dorcas is almost the same age as Tino who was born in 1979, and it is this youthfulness that alienated her from the chief’s children who deemed her a ‘young control freak’.

Tino and her siblings are said to have tried to clip her wings and accused her of capitalising on their father’s condition to take over the business and forge ownership papers of some properties.

Tinopona Katsande

Dorcas was, however, adamant of keeping control of the businesses and applied for a peace order against one of Tino’s brothers Rukariro.

This publication understands the peace order was granted on June 20 last year at Mutoko Civil Court.

Part of the restrictions were that Rukariro was not allowed to step foot at the family mansion and selected business premises.

The grounds of the peace order were that Rukariro was inflicting emotional harm to Dorcas and disturbing her peace, working in connivance with Tino and the other siblings.

“The respondent is ordered not to visit 273 Mutoko, not to approach or visit Chitangazi Clinic Farm, Mapereke Farmer’s shop, Mapereke Children’s Ministries, Chitora Farm and Murewa Complex,” read part of the peace order.

In retaliation, Tino and her siblings allegedly went behind Dorcas’s back and instructed their lawyers to seek for the appointment of a curator to manage the family businesses.

Before Chief Nyamukoho’s demise, Tino opened up to this reporter last year that Dorcas was a ‘thorn in the flesh’ and was on a looting spree taking advantaged of her father’s dementia.

“My dad is virtually useless now because of dementia, he can’t even remember things. I was happy when he remembered Yambuko muzukuru wavo,” Tino told Zim Morning Post.

“Dorcas is my age and when she came into the family we all welcomed her as our mother because life had to go on for my dad after my mum‘s passing. But we later realised that it was one of those young ladies who were in it for the money and now she is going to the courts blocking my brother from the family business,” Tino added.

She also revealed startling details that Dorcas had changed ownership and title deeds to several houses and residential stands that Chief Nyamukoho owned in an area popularly known as ‘Red Roofs’ located along Old Mazowe Road in Westgate, Harare.

The late chief bought that vast tract of land in Westgate and sub-divided it into residential stands for resale, and up to this day there is an area known as Mapereke – his trading name.

“Yes, dad bought that place long back, that is why you even see roads like Katsande Way. You know as a woman I would not want to fight another woman but amai ava is pushing us to the edges,” said Tino then.

Those close to Dorcas dispute Tino’s same-age claims saying Dorcas is 52-years-old.

Efforts to get Tino’s latest sentiments after the alleged ill-treatment at the funeral hit a snag as her mobile phone was unavailable since Sunday.

This publication later got in touch with her partner who advised that he was already at work and not in the company of the prominent actress.

Dorcas, was also unavailable at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, the late Chief Nyamukoho was a strict disciplinarian, a trait that saw him at one time ‘disown’ Tino before the father and daughter made an emotional reunion.

Neighbours at the mansion in Mapereke Village gave testimonies that he had undying love for his grandchildren – Tino’s kids.

He was appointed chief on July 24 2001.

The affable traditional leader was a teacher by profession who rose through the ranks to the position of headmaster in 1956.

His business empire included properties in Harare, Marondera, Murehwa and Mutoko where he breathed his last.

He represented the Mashonaland East Provincial Chiefs’ Council in the Senate between 2012 and 2018.

He raised his children in a dignified manner exposing them to both traditional and Western cultures that saw Tino doing her tertiary education in the United States.

A simple conversation with the former Studio 263 actress shows her deep knowledge of the Buja culture dominant in Mutoko and an equal mastering of the Western lifestyle and combination of exposure to multi-racial former Group A schools and a ‘dance’ in the US.

That she effortless speaks through nasal passage is common knowledge to all who have had a chance to watch and listen to her on the small screen.

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