{"id":24971,"date":"2016-04-29T01:43:45","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T01:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/body-of-papa-wemba-arrives-in-dr-congo\/"},"modified":"2016-04-29T01:43:07","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T01:43:07","slug":"body-of-papa-wemba-arrives-in-dr-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/body-of-papa-wemba-arrives-in-dr-congo\/","title":{"rendered":"Body of Papa Wemba arrives in DR Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Body was flown home after an all-night musical tribute in Cote d\u2019Ivoire.}<\/p>\n

The body of Congolese \u201crumba king\u201d Papa Wemba arrived home in Kinshasa on Thursday, where it was greeted by a huge crowd of distraught fans after the musician\u2019s collapse during a show in Cote d\u2019Ivoire.<\/p>\n

His body was flown home after an all-night musical tribute in Cote d\u2019Ivoire to the legendary African music star, who died on Sunday at the age of 66 during a show in Abidjan.<\/p>\n

The white coffin draped in the Democratic Republic of Congo flag was received by Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo and parliament speaker Aubin Minaku before being taken off in a hearse.<\/p>\n

Relatives of the flamboyant performer were also at the airport, along with tribal chiefs and numerous admirers of the artist who was a stalwart of Africa\u2019s musical scene for more than 40 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cNews of the death of Papa Wemba was an earthquake,\u201d Ivorian Culture Minister Maurice Kouakou Bandaman told reporters. Dozens of musicians took part in a tribute concert to Papa Wemba in Abidjan overnight that was billed as a \u201cbig artistic wake\u201d.<\/p>\n

An artist never dies. In death, an artist becomes even greater. Papa Wemba is dead, and now even greater than before,\u201d said the Ivorian minister of culture Kouakou.<\/p>\n

A funeral for the father of six will take place on Monday and he will be buried on Tuesday on the outskirts of Kinshasa.<\/p>\n

PIONEER<\/p>\n

Papa Wemba helped to pioneer a blend of Congolese rumba with Western electric rock as part of the world music explosion of the 1980s. Dance was an integral part of the nattily-dressed performer\u2019s shows.<\/p>\n

After working with other Kinshasa artists, he launched his own band Viva La Musica in 1977 and gained world renown when African music became popular in Europe and the United States in later years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m flummoxed. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening. All our great musicians are dying one after the other,\u201d Delico Nzinga, a Kinshasa fan, said on hearing news of his death.<\/p>\n

The Ivorian culture minister said that Cote d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s President Alassane Ouattara had instructed him to set up \u201ca crisis unit to ensure (that Papa Wemba\u2019s death in Ivory Coast) does not damage relations\u201d with DR Congo \u201con account of the stature of the deceased\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want this period of mourning to be strictly a cultural event, not a political one,\u201d Said DR Congo\u2019s Culture minister Banza Mukalay said.<\/p>\n

In Kinshasa, among musicians involved in funeral arrangements are Nyoka Longo, Maika Munan, Koffi Olomide, Werra Son, Tshala Muana, Fally Ipupa and Papa Wemba\u2019s protege Reddy Amisi.<\/p>\n

According to family sources, Papa Wemba had been off the stage for a while recuperating, after being hospitalised in Paris.<\/p>\n

Congolese musicians in Paris were to converge on a restaurant to mourn the fallen comrade on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Nation, veteran singer and composer Nyboma Mwandido said they would be dressed like Papa Wemba.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to celebrate what Papa Wemba was known to promote in terms of attire and music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Similar gatherings will be held in London, Brussels and Nairobi led by promoters JC Motindo and Jules Nsana, and Ms Paulin Wanga, a fan.<\/p>\n

\"Men<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Body was flown home after an all-night musical tribute in Cote d\u2019Ivoire.} The body of Congolese \u201crumba king\u201d Papa Wemba arrived home in Kinshasa on Thursday, where it was greeted by a huge crowd of distraught fans after the musician\u2019s collapse during a show in Cote d\u2019Ivoire. His body was flown home after an all-night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[100],"byline":[228],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-24971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-africa","byline-afp"],"bylines":[{"id":228,"name":"AFP","slug":"afp","description":"Agence France-Presse is an international news agency headquartered in Paris. It is the oldest news agency in the world and one of the largest. ","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":71}],"contributors":[{"id":228,"name":"AFP","slug":"afp","description":"Agence France-Presse is an international news agency headquartered in Paris. It is the oldest news agency in the world and one of the largest. ","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":71}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24971"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=24971"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=24971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}