Born Genius Kadungure, Ginimbi as he was famously and affectionately known and called by his fans and friends, was a Zimbabwean socialite and businessman. A free-spirited, rich young-man, he lived in the fast lane, worked hard and played harder. He was known for his lavish ‘all white’ birthday-parties’, free spending, fleet of fast and expensive cars, he lived for the moment and set his own rules. His successful rise, tossing the yoke of poverty and mediocrity without necessarily leaning on inhe... moreBorn Genius Kadungure, Ginimbi as he was famously and affectionately known and called by his fans and friends, was a Zimbabwean socialite and businessman. A free-spirited, rich young-man, he lived in the fast lane, worked hard and played harder. He was known for his lavish ‘all white’ birthday-parties’, free spending, fleet of fast and expensive cars, he lived for the moment and set his own rules. His successful rise, tossing the yoke of poverty and mediocrity without necessarily leaning on inheritance made him a sensation and an inspiration to many of his generation.
Born and raised in a family of four in his rural home in Domboshava, 40km outside of Harare, he grew up poor but was fortunate that his parents could at least afford to send him to school. After his O’level, his mother wanted him to pursue education further but in his own words he only wanted to make money. He was estranged from his family and when he met his mother and brother in Harare after almost a year, he was 17 and driving a Mercedes S-Class, he said it felt right that he was his own prophet and had chosen the right path.
Ginimbi started his business career by hustling in search of a decent livelihood, becoming a middleman securing gas for domestic users. His break came when a friend who worked at the Angolan Airways offices helped him secure his first contract for gas supplies. He followed up on many gas users and within a year his business fortunes turned and he went on to form Pioneer Gasses. The company supplied gas to the commercial, industrial, public and retail sectors. With capital cash, as an entrepreneur he incorporated his many ventures as Piko Trading which allowed him to diversify his business interests and took advantage of the crisis obtaining in every sector of Zimbabwe at the time dabbling in entertainment, grain supplies, cigarette smuggling and was big in fuel supplies. Under Piko Trading, he expanded his business interests into neighboring South Africa with Rivonia Gases and bought Quick Gases in Botswana which he transformed into Pula Gases which is one of the market leaders and employing in excess of 100 employees in that country. In 2018 he started Sankayi Night Club, later changed to Dreams Night Club, a top of the range night club where the rich and opulent in Zimbabwe would party. He brought big names into Zimbabwe including Davido among many others. On bringing big names he once quipped that it was about the long-term relationships that he valued the most than the business, as he almost always had to pay the entertainers from his personal coffers given Zimbabwe’s currency problems at the time.
Ginimbi had his fair share of controversy and brushes with the law and in 2014 Kadungure was arrested on allegations of fraud and tried on allegations of swindling a ZANU-PF Member of Parliament and a Kadoma-based miner of R1,581,890. In February 2018, Ginimbi dismissed claims that he owed R340 000 to South African based businessman Mutumwa Mawere. The two had a falling out and exchanged words on social media site Twitter after Mawere asked Kadungure to pay back what he owed but he fired back accusing the former of social media grandstanding. His holding company Piko trading was accused of tax evasion between 2009 t0 2016 and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority claimed the company misrepresented its total sales prejudicing the tax authority around US$3,5m in the process. In February 2020, Ginimbi was arraigned before Harare magistrates court facing fraud charges after he allegedly forged the value of a Bentley vehicle, he had bought in South Africa in 2019.
Despite having a religious following on social media who followed his every word, wealth flaunting, to being a compulsive shopper known for hosting lavish parties where flashy socialites would consume large quantities of expensive whiskey brands, Ginimbi never abandoned his rural base for the exquisite accommodation amongst Harare’s nouveau riche in leafy suburbs. His love for top-of-the-range cars meant that Ginimbi had to construct a 3,6-kilometre tarred road from the Harare-Domboshava Road, leading straight to his mansion built on 4 acres in rural Domboshava. He was a free spirited and easy-going fella who mingled with anyone with ease. While many saw in the open what he did for himself and his friends in his time of celebration, very few knew about his philanthropic side. In his Domboshava community, the number of widows, orphans, disadvantaged and underprivileged that he directly assisted was astounding but unheralded. His commitment towards helping children who were born and bred in circumstances similar to his to attend school more comfortably than he did was a legendary tale told by nobody because he never wanted that written about him.
Ginimbi died in a horror car accident along Borrowdale road in Harare when his Rolls Royce Wraith collided head-on with a Honda Fit while driving back to his Domboshava mansion in the company of Malawian Limumba Karim, fitness trainer and video vixen Mitchel “Mimi Moana” Amuli and Mozambican model and socialite Alichia Adams. Karim, Amuli and Adams were trapped inside the car and burnt beyond recognition after the collision, while Ginimbi was pulled out just before the vehicle exploded into flames. He was survived by his father and two sisters. At the time of writing, his estate and will was still a thing of speculation and media frenzy.
