Nairobi News

In a development that is the talk of the town in Kinshasa, it has emerged that funds allocated for the funeral of Congolese music star General Defao Matumona Lulendo were embezzled.

Worse still, those implicated are fellow artistes, with the blame game between them playing out in the media.

At the Union des Musiciens Congolais (Umuco), interim chairman Adios Alemba, who is accused of being the mastermind of the embezzlement, has been notified of the end of his term at the organisation.

He will no longer preside over the musicians’ association “following the indecent tension created by your management of the funeral of Defao”, says a letter to him signed by Verckys Kiamuangana, Umuco’s long-standing chairman.

It all began at the end of December, the day after the death of General Defao.

An organising committee was set up to repatriate the musician from Cameroon, where he had gone to perform over the festive period. At the head of this committee was Mr Alemba.

Mr Alemba sent Mr Nsaka Kongo to Cameroon, a retired singer who presides over local musicians’ NGO Artistes in Danger, whose specialty is to look after colleagues in distress.

On his return to Kinshasa, Mr Kongo and Mr Alemba drew up a statement of needs for the funeral. The Umuco boss submitted a statement totalling $66,000 to Mr Gentiny Ngobila, governor of Kinshasa, who promised to bury General Defao with dignity.

The governor disbursed $25,000 to help with burying the Congolese great. But Mr Alemba says that the governor’s office withdrew $7,000 from the envelope as a kind of retro-commission, which is reportedly very common in the DRC.

After this, Mr Alemba and Mr Kongo said they ended up with $18,000 to plan General Defao’s funeral. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture and Arts gave Mr Kongo $10,000 to “honour the deceased”.

So from an estimated budget of $66,000, they ended up with $28,000.

Umuco then began funeral plans by renting instruments and equipment for performances by different musical groups. According to Mr Kongo, 50 singers and musicians entered the studio to record a song as a tribute to General Defao.

The money from the governor and the ministry of culture was used to pay the transport costs of the singers who recorded the song, the studio costs and shooting its video.

Some well-known Congolese singers took part, each of whom received $1,000 for transport. Mr Kongo mentions Mbilia Bel, Reddy Amisi, Bozi Boziana and Manda Chante. Some of the other artistes refused to touch the money.

According to the funeral programme, General Defao would be decorated posthumously for “services rendered to the Congolese nation and to rhumba”, reportedly a costly affair. However, this did not happen because the organising committee had run out of money.

The burial went ahead in Kinshasa. Some artistes acknowledged that they had received money for transport: Bozi Boziana said he got $400 and Manda Chante $500. Once the scandal broke, the latter said he did not know why he was given the money, saying he was ready to hand it back.

Mr Alemba has remained mum while Mr Kongo has come out to defend himself in the public eye.

The governor’s office said Mr Ngobila is “very disappointed with musical artistes”.

So from an estimated budget of $66,000, they ended up with $28,000.

Umuco then began funeral plans by renting instruments and equipment for performances by different musical groups. According to Mr Kongo, 50 singers and musicians entered the studio to record a song as a tribute to General Defao.

The money from the governor and the ministry of culture was used to pay the transport costs of the singers who recorded the song, the studio costs and shooting its video.

Some well-known Congolese singers took part, each of whom received $1,000 for transport. Mr Kongo mentions Mbilia Bel, Reddy Amisi, Bozi Boziana and Manda Chante. Some of the other artistes refused to touch the money.

According to the funeral programme, General Defao would be decorated posthumously for “services rendered to the Congolese nation and to rhumba”, reportedly a costly affair. However, this did not happen because the organising committee had run out of money.

The burial went ahead in Kinshasa. Some artistes acknowledged that they had received money for transport: Bozi Boziana said he got $400 and Manda Chante $500. Once the scandal broke, the latter said he did not know why he was given the money, saying he was ready to hand it back.

Mr Alemba has remained mum while Mr Kongo has come out to defend himself in the public eye.

The governor’s office said Mr Ngobila is “very disappointed with musical artistes”.