The family of the famous Congolese guitarist Lokassa ya Mbongo is going through a very tough time.
It’s been almost seven months since he passed away, and they are still waiting for the government’s help to give him a proper burial in his home country.
Lokassa had asked to be buried in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and his body is currently in a morgue in the capital, Kinshasa.
Lokassa’s son, André Marie Lokassa, talked to the BBC and said that the government had promised to organize a funeral that would honor his father’s memory.
However, they haven’t done it yet.
There seems to be some disagreement within the family, and a local charity for artists suggests that this is causing the delay.
The Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage declined to comment on the situation.
The family has asked the government for $75,000 to cover the funeral costs, but the request hasn’t been approved yet.
This has left the family in a very difficult situation, and it’s causing tension among them.
The morgue bills have already reached $4,000, so the family hopes to bury Lokassa by mid-October even if the government doesn’t provide assistance.
They have a backup plan if things don’t improve.
Lokassa ya Mbongo, whose real name is Denis Kasiya Lokassa, passed away at the age of 77 due to diabetes and complications from a mild stroke he had in 2020.
He was a renowned rhythm guitarist in DR Congo and had a successful career in Paris, leading the Soukous Stars band and later forming the African All Stars with singer Sam Mangwana.
He lived in the US from 1996 until his passing in March.
His body was brought back to DR Congo the following month.
Artist in Danger, a charity for artists in DR Congo, suggests that the family’s disagreements are to blame for the funeral delay, not the government.
They say that the family needs to resolve their issues and let the government handle the burial.
“I approached Lokassa’s family to help them expedite the funeral process but they wanted to proceed alone, which I complied with.
The [burial] delay is shocking, my wish is that a solution is found as soon as possible,” Mr Kongo said.
In April, another well-known Congolese musician, Saak Sinatra Sakul, was brought back from Paris for burial.
His family had hoped for government assistance, but they decided to bury him themselves out of fear that his body might decompose after being stored in a casket for about 10 days.
Other Congolese musicians have also faced long delays before their burials, like composer and saxophonist Kiamuangana Mateta Verckys, who passed away in October of the previous year and was buried in December, and jazz star Lutumba Simaro Masiya, who passed away in March 2019 and wasn’t laid to rest until May that year.
Lokassa’s niece, Nicole Londala, also believes that the government is to blame for the delay.
She says that they haven’t fulfilled their promise to finance the burial and that they had initially hoped to have the funeral within a few days, but they have still waiting since April 15th.
“We initially hoped that the funeral could be organized in five or 10 days.
It is painful that since 15 April, we are still waiting for the funeral to take place,” Ms. Londala told the BBC
