THE LOST GRAVE

 It Sunday and was my 4th and last day in Moshi, I had planned to leave Moshi around mid day and head for Arusha, things didn't work that way.
My friend Mr Mshana had introduced me to the owner of one FM  radio station and we had agreed that I would be interviewed in the radio's oldies program which was aired every Sunday from ten. So Mshana and I were ready that morning for that appointment, we tried to get the FM owner on phone and he wasn't answering the phone so suddenly we had  about two  unplanned hours in our hands. We decided to go visit the grave of the musician Jaques Issa Nundu, known to his fans as Issa Nundu, and say some prayers for him. 

Prince Issa Nundu

Issa was a Congolese musician who moved  to Tanzania in the 80s, for a short time in 1985, me and him were both members of Orchestra Makassy. Issa was a quite guy but an excellent singer, he was born in Nundu village in Uvira  in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 23rd of July, 1954. His father was the chief of  Nundu village in Fizi district in Kivu,  because of this, Issa  would sometimes identify himself as Prince Jacques (Jack) Nundu. He began his music career playing with the group Bavy National and gained quite a following due to his sweet voice. He left the Democratic Republic of Congo accompanied by another great singer the late Kyanga Songa, the twin brother of another vocalist Kyanga Songa. In Tanzania Issa was a member of groups like Maquis Original, MK Group, Orchestra Makassy, Orchestra Super Matimila,  Bana Maquis,  Super Kamanyola  and  La Capitale ‘Wazee Sugu’. It was in this last group that his health  started deteriorating, it became so bad that his band decided to send him back to Congo. Issa left Dar es Salaam by train but in Kigoma he was met by his relatives who thought it was better if they stayed in Tanzania where Issa could get better medical attention and decided to take him to Moshi where there was  the famous KCMC Hospital. Issa was accompanied to Moshi by his sister and another relative who were both new to Tanzania. Unfortunately on Saturday 25th October 2014, Issa lost his life at the KCMC hospital, musicians and music enthusiasts in Moshi had to take the responsibility of burying Issa. I was informed of the sad incident, and was asked to raise  funds for burial arrangements, in the end Prince Jaques Nundu was buried in Moshi, a number of musicians contributed and so did Hon January Makamba the now Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

My friend Mshana was one of the people who had buried Issa Nundu, he knew exactly where the grave was, we went to the grave yard and to our surprise Issa Nundu grave was no where to be seen, on the spot where Mshana was sure they had buried Issa, was a new expensively built grave. We spent almost an hour checking and rechecking but in vain Issa Nundu's grave had disappeared. Mshana promised me he would ask other members who were there during the burial to help him trace the grave, if it is still there.
We went back to Uhuru Park for lunch and Mshana introduced me to his brother who was another music lover, a very nice guy who kept on making one joke after another. At around 2 pm I asked Mshana for permission to leave for Arusha.
I arrived in Arusha around 5 pm I had booked a hotel which was a walking distance from the main bus stop, I had slept early, I wanted to be ready for Arusha.