Mangwea laid to rest in Moro

Dar/Morogoro. The body of the late Bongo flavour artiste, Mr Albert Mangwea, alias Ngwair, was laid to rest yesterday as other details of his life emerged.

It was said that the late Mangwea had lived in the Father of the Nation’s house at Msasani in Dar es Salaam for one year in 2006.

Representing her grandparents at the farewell bidding in the city, Ms Sophia Nyerere, divulged that Mangwea had once lived with their family.

“He came with my young brother and we lived with him as part of our family, to the extent that grandmother (Mama Maria Nyerere) used to call him his grandson,” said Ms Nyerere, who currently resides in Malaysia.

Mr Mangwea, who died on Tuesday last week, was brought to Morogoro on Wednesday this week, and the burial ceremony started yesterday at around 11:30 am at the Jamhuri Stadium.

The funeral service, which was presided over by Parish Priest Rev Fr Octavian Msimbe of the St Monica Kihonda Catholic Church, was interrupted by the entering of some late coming artistes, something which made the crowd to shout and wave at them.

Preaching during the Mass, deputy Parish Priest Fr Peter Luanda urged the family, friends and fans to stand firm and pray for the deceased. “We still have the chance to rejoice with him in heaven, this is a sign that there is life after death,” detailed Fr Luanda, while warning them to be prepared as they neither know the hour nor the day when death will take them.

For his part, Morogoro Regional commissioner Joel Bendera recalled the way the region had received the sad news of the death.

“He was near his fellow musicians and the present crowd here reveals that he was such a good person to the majority,” detailed the RC, promising that the government will continue to protect musicians’ copyright.

Present also was Shadow minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, Mr Joseph Mbilinyi alias Sugu, who said that there is a need for the government and music stakeholders to give a keen eye on musicians when they are still alive.

“There is no need to give a very huge fund during burials, this should be done when the artist is still alive, as a way of appreciating what the person is doing,” he said.

The Morogoro Urban MP, who was represented by Mr Moris Masala, urged artistes to worry about God and start praying, while comedian Masanja Mkandamizaji said that the crowd (which came to bury Mangwea) should also be attending the shows.

“If only our shows will be attended by huge crowds like this, then we will be billionaires, which means artistes won’t be poor anymore...you should attend our shows to help in curbing poverty among us,” noted Mr Masanja. Executive secretary of the Tanzania Film Board, who also represented the Information, Youth, Culture and Sports ministry, Ms Joyce Isso, and the executive secretary of the National Culture Council (Basata), Mr Godfrey Mngereza, said that the government recognised Ngwair’s contribution in the music industry.

Sources revealed that Ngweir had a Canadian fiancée who also attended the funeral.