Culture

Fans mourn as Congo-Brazzaville iconic guitarist, Passy Mermans, passes on

Published

1 year ago

January 2, 2023

One of Africa’s and Congo-Brazzavile iconic guitarists, Passy Mermans, has died at the age of 80, a member of his orchestra group, Bantous de la Capitale, Kosmos Moutouari, confirmed on Monday.

Passy Mermans, who was popularly known as Mermans 1st, was the founder of the Bantous de la Capitale, the first ever Congolese orchestra which was created in 1959.

The death of the guitarist of one of the oldest orchestras in Africa comes after those of his colleagues Henri Gilbert Adampot, and Ricky Simeon Malonga, Moutouari said.

“It’s difficult, you lose at the same time, first Richy followed by the death of Adampot, and a few days later the old Mermans. It makes you think at the end “but what’s going on.”

“Mermans was a good guy, a sound artist and in life, he was a man who dealt with everyone, and he loved his job,” he added.

An entertainment journalist in the country, Cédric Lyonnel Sehossolo, who spoke on the demise of Mermans, said the orchestra, which today is gradually emptying of its living legends, had fortunately prepared the succession for several years.

“However, the elders draw the younger generation’s attention to humbly follow in the footsteps of their predecessors in order to preserve the soul of this mythical group of the Congolese rumba,” he said.

“This series of disappearances of the fathers of Congolese rumba reopens the debate on the succession, the preservation of the musical heritage of the orchestra and the redistribution of their copyright.

“These founding fathers did not have the time to solve the problem of the earnings of their music generated by international distribution platforms whereas today we have local platforms that secure the sale of these songs,” he concluded.

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Culture

Egypt reclaims 3,400-year-old stolen statue of King Ramses II

Published

4 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Egypt has received a 3,400-year-old statue depicting the head of King Ramses II that was stolen and smuggled out of the country more than three millennia a ago, the country’s Antiquities Ministry said in a statement.

According to the Ministry, the statue was stolen from the Ramses II temple in the ancient city of Abydos in Southern Egypt more than three decades ago.

Head of Egypt’s Antiquities Repatriation Department, Shaaban Abdel Gawad, who received the artefact said though the exact date the artefact was stolen is not known, the piece is estimated to have been stolen in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

“The statue is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo but not on display. The artefact will be restored,” he said.

He stated that Egyptian authorities spotted the artefact when it was offered for sale in an exhibition in London in 2013 before it was moved to several other countries before reaching Switzerland.

“This head is part of a group of statues depicting King Ramses II seated alongside a number of Egyptian deities,” Abdel Gawad said.

King Ramses II is one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful Pharaohs. Also known as Ramses the Great, he was the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BC.

“Egypt collaborated with Swiss authorities to establish its rightful ownership and Switzerland handed over the statue to the Egyptian embassy in Bern last year, but it was only recently that Egypt brought the artefact home, he added.

Culture

Ghana mourns as top gospel music icon Koda passes away

Published

1 day ago

April 22, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The Ghanaian entertainment industry has, once again, been thrown into mourning following the death of renowned gospel musician, Kofi Owusu Dua Anto, known professionally as Koda, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 46.

According to reports, the gospel music icon and producer died from a kidney-related condition he had been suffering from for sometime.

Koda, renowned for hit songs like “Hossana”, “Nkwaa Abodo”, “Nsem Pii” and “Adooso”, was also a producer of repute who gained fame for his inspiring compositions and his captivating, soul-stirring vocals that struck a chord with audiences nationwide.

A local media reports that he worked with a lot of Gospel musicians in Ghana and Nigeria including popular Nigerian gospel singer, Nathaniel Bassey.