Cell-ebrity: A first for artistes

The funeral policy for the arts and culture sector, Cell-ebrity Funeral Fund, is aimed at providing decent and affordable funeral cover and services to the artistes and peace of mind to the industry as a whole.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in the capital, NACZ director, Elvas Mari, acknowledged that the funeral fund would “go a long way in ensuring that our artists have decent burials”.
“I really do appreciate the partnership we have with Cell Assurance Company. It will go a very long way in ensuring that our artistes have a decent burial,” he said and called upon all artistes to take the opportunity so that they can have a celebrity burial just like any celebrity in the world.
“The NACZ also will also talk to some our partners so that they can also be medical aid facilities and insurance policies for our artistes,” he said.
Isheanesu Makuzwa, group chief executive officer of Cell Holdings, said that “celebrities should have celebrity burials and this was just a step towards it”.
And in a speech read on his behalf at the signing ceremony, the country’s most celebrated sculptor, Dominic Benhura, hailed the initiative as “a step towards building an affordable and decent funeral cover for artists”.
“The National Arts Council has indeed extended a good hand to all artists across all sectors, a hand that we should accept with both hands,” he said.
He said while some artists can afford decent burials, it was saddening that some artistes, after having led a life of glamour and glitz, end up getting pauper’s burial.
“The Cell-ebrity Funeral Fund will put an end to all this . . . it will showcase the glamour and glitter that we as artists have during our lives. When we die it is those that we leave behind that have the burden of ensuring that we have a ‘celebrity’ burial, but more often than not, we leave them with huge debts.
“To this end, I implore all artistes to take this opportunity and register to be a member of the funeral cover. It is high time, as artistes, we start to prepare for the day we will be finally laid to rest,” said Benhura.
Present at the signing ceremony were stakeholders from all sectors from the arts and culture industry including  Mutuwira, the Acting Principal Director for Arts and Culture in the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture; Polisile Ncube, director of the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association; Doreen Sibanda, the director of the National Art Gallery; Kennedy Kachuruka, chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Dancers Association, and the artistes themselves, among others.
The official launch of the fund will be done in a couple of weeks.