Dr Remy Ongala gets a king's farewell
By IMAN MANI, 16th December 2010 @ 11:34, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 218
IT was a turnout fit for a king that Ramadhani Mtoro Ongala wa-Mungamba, better-known as Dr Remy Ongala got at the Biafra grounds in Kinondoni, Dar es Salaam on Thursday.
The heat from the burning sun did not manage to stop the thousands of people, from all walks of life coming to pay their last respects from 10 in the morning until the afternoon before his burial in Sinza.
The important thing was to be there for a hero had passed away. It shall be written that at his funeral, the late Dr Remy, at the age of 63, brought together all shades and creeds of people.
The actual exercise of last respects, which started at five past one in the afternoon, went on until two twenty-five in the afternoon's heat. This was after the Minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, Emmanuel Nchimbi, said a word on the enormous work the late Dr Remy had done to lift-up local music, not only here but on the international stage.
He also praised him for playing a style of music that was identified here in Tanzania, despite him having been born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). "The government recognises the work Dr Remy Ongala did and the way he kept his music unique.
Other local musicians should learn something from him and work towards maintaining what he started. We the government will have to pay a visit to his family to express our condolences for their lost.
It is also a big loss to the nation," Minister Nchimbi added. Anyone passing-by the Biafra grounds yesterday could easily have wondered who was it that had caused so many people to be there under such a burning sun's heat.
They would have heard the burst of Dr Remy's recorded music, which came out of the speakers between announcements and might have thought he was performing live on stage right then.
For people like the local Evangelist and musician, Cosmas Chidumule, who played together with the late Dr Remy for many years, the entire occasion was more of a reality than might be thought.
After everyone present had paid their last respects and the black casket bearing the body of the local legend was taken to Sinza for a final church service and burial, he told the ‘Daily News', "Dr Remy Ongala had come back again at the grounds to put on a show then afterwards continued with his journey."
With the passing-on of the maestro, Chidumule added local music could lose its way, for it has already gone off track. Dr Remy was keeping it on track, he maintains.
This is why it's necessary for all stakeholders, including the government and the musicians themselves, who can feel that something is missing to come back to the track of the real music, real composition, he said.
Together something can be done to get back on track, he concludes. If there was an estimated five thousand people at the Biafra Grounds yesterday, then there must have been at least one thousand more in Sinza.
There were people and vehicles along a section of Shekilango Road, inside, outside and around the family home that interfered greatly with the flow of traffic.
Despite the clogging of the street with people and vehicles, no one seemed disturbed. The music coming from his home did not stop after the burial at five twenty five in the evening either.