“There was a woman fan of our band in the late 1970s. She frequented our shows and seemed to have been craving the attention of bassist Atia Joe, who apparently was reluctant to yield to her gestures. This lady, in typical determination, became more aggressive and began sending anyone willing to play an emissary role to Atia,” Bua Mangala, aka Loboko Passie, told Jabulani.

“The habit became so often that Atia’s colleagues in the band began chiding him frequently with the phrase ‘mama anakuita,’ which after some time became his sobriquet, hence the many times you hear the line dropped in Mazembe songs.”

This is the shot that darted the bull’s eye. It was the all-important explanation that was needed to debunk the many myths that had been peddled online and in other forums, as the likely explanation for the genesis of the phrase. Some had been told and retold so many times that they had come to be accepted as true by some quarters.

 An accurate response could only come from Loboko, as he is the only surviving member of the Super Mazembe band. He is the last man standing after several members of the band passed on over the years. As an old sage of yore once said, 'dead men tell no tales,' so only Loboko could solve the intriguing jigsaw.

Super Mazembe was a band that rocked Nairobi from the 1970s, in an era when there was stiff competition in the music industry by expatriate Congolese bands that had traveled eastward into Nairobi in the spirit of the maiden musical explorer of the Congolese rumba genre into Nairobi and East Africa, Jean Bosco Mwenda Wa Bayeke.

Among the other bands that kept Nairobi dancing through the nights were; Les Mangelepa, Viva Makale, Bana Ngenge, Virunga, Les Kinois, Moja One, Le Noirs, Boma Liwanza, Orchestra Basanga, and others. Among the Super Mazembe members who have since died are Mutonkole Longwa Dido, Rapok Kayembe, Atia Joe, Dodo Doris, Katele, Kasongo Wa Kanema, Lovy Longomba and many others.

When asked by comedian Churchill where his colleagues were, before his death, singer Kasongo Wakanema fought down tears while responding that they were all resting in a city cemetery, Langata. Indeed, at the time, only he and Loboko were still alive, but unfortunately, he passed on a year later, leaving Loboko as the last man standing. The Mazembe band was formed in DRC in the 1960s, traveled to Kenya in 1974, and settled in Nairobi. Bua Mangala joined the band later.

Bua Mangala came to Kenya via Tanzania with a band known as Orchestre Basanga of saxman Kalombo Mwanza, as documented by Alastair Johnston in his blog Muzikfan, an authoritative narration of the Congolese bands in Kenya, titled ‘Congo in Kenya.’ This was the same journey that also brought in guitarist Frantal Tabou. The band ventured into East Africa following speculations that the region offered better prospects than their homeland, which was already saturated with musicians.

The band was to perform in the entire East Africa, but the response was underwhelming, resulting in financial difficulties that made the band split, and by the time it came to Nairobi, it was already in fragments. In Nairobi, Loboko found himself stranded in a strange city and had to seek means of survival, which could only come by the way of him seeking a band to offer his services, as he was only armed with his guitar skills as the qualifications that could land him a job.

The Nairobi that received him was harsh and a contrast to the London-like cities he had heard about in stories while still in Congo. He had to travel to Mombasa for a sojourn with Le Noirs of war veteran Chuza Kabasele. Later, he came back to Nairobi and joined Boma Liwanza members performing in one of the city clubs, was briefly auditioned, and was taken in. He played with the band for some time before switching and finally settling at Super Mazembe.

At the peak of the band’s success in the early 1980s, Super Mazembe had several rhythmists, Bua Mangala, Kasongo Songoley, and Rapok Kayembe, all jostling for a spot in the top lineup, aiming to be paired with Bukasa Wa Bukasa aka Bukalos, in a formation of solo guitars and rhythm.

“When Bukasa Wa Bukasa died in the late 1980s, I advised my band leader, Longwa Didos Mutonkole, to allow me to convert from rhythm to solo, instead of recruiting another soloist for the band,” Bua Mangala told Jabulani while narrating how he eventually transitioned from rhythm to solo guitar.

He has also played very many songs with other non-Mazembe musicians. He was featured in several albums by LUNNA Kidi of Ochieng Kabaselle. With Super Mazembe’s tradition of titling songs in honor of musicians, an arrangement that is unique to the band, as we see it in the songs Kasongo, Atia, Longwa, Kayembe, etc., Loboko was equally honored by a song by the same title. Kasongo has of late become viral, after an internet hype about the warthog, and has equally gained prominence as a derogative political parlance chiding the president of Kenya.

Loboko, who has in the recent past been practicing with Super Mazembe Academia in a club called Bora Bora in Nairobi, played with a band known as Ambro Musica in Mombasa, before heading back to Nairobi. He recently celebrated his birth on 2nd February and remains the only standing tree of the forest that was Super Mazembe.

By Jerome Ogola

Jabulani Radio

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