BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA RESIDENTS of the farming town of Marondera, about 74km east of Harare last week woke up to the sad news of the passing on of renowned businessman and politician Luke Masamvu. The late former Mutasa North legislator (Zanu PF) owned a supermarket, perhaps the cheapest at the heart of Marondera. He was a popular figure to many, not because of the supermarket, but his big family, with all the till operators in the supermarket being his wives. Masamvu’s lifestyle ignited debate on how a man of his age could manage and sire 70 children. Despite supermarkets being allowed to operate during the COVID-19-induced lockdown, Masamvu initially closed his for fear of exposing his family to the respiratory disease, but later took a gamble, which eventually claimed his life. “I am not going to open my supermarket, let those who want to open do so,” he said then. “This disease is dangerous. As you know, my wives and the members of my family are the workers in this business. I do not want them to contract the disease because once one gets it, the whole family is affected. “So you see my brother, I have tangible reasons why my shops remain closed,” he said before bursting into his trademark sarcastic laughter. Like any other businessman, Masamvu wanted his supermarket to open, but as a caring husband and father, he wanted to protect his family. After taking the sacrificial decision to close the shop and lose out on profits, there was no joy for the Masamvu family as COVID-19 affected them after he made a U-turn and opened his shops. “The tide is now low. We have now opened and we will be cautious,” he said after resumption of operations. This is the sad tale of the jovial politician, whose remains were recently interred at his rural home in Nyanga with full military honours after being declared provincial hero. His burial — although it was a COVID-19 death, defied all odds as it was attended by his family members, friends, associates and government officials. A number of Marondera residents drove all the way to Manicaland to bid farewell to one of their own. What he did after contracting COVID-19 Mourners heard during his funeral wake that after testing positive for the coronavirus, Masamvu left home without notifying his family of where he was headed. He only confided in his nephew and namesake, Phebion, whom he told that he was in isolation somewhere in Harare. The businessman did not want his family to visit him, hence the decision to hide his whereabouts during isolation. Masamvu and his nephew Phebion were inseparable. He was afraid of the respiratory disease, unfortunately his fear did not save him. Interesting facts about Masamvu The late Masamvu was not ashamed of his polygamous marriage. He took care of his family which lived at the same mansion in the affluent suburb of Winston Park in Marondera. Two years ago, NewsDay Weekender met Masamvu in one of the internet cafés in central Marondera, where he was printing a letter. In the letter, Masamvu was pleading with authorities at a local school where his child