Congolese music icon, Papa Wemba, who died, aged 66, on Sunday after collapsing on stage was an anti-war campaigner who was later convicted for human trafficking.
Born in a country battered by war and poverty, the man, whose real name was Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba, grew up to become one of Africa’s most popular musicians with his rumba music and extraordinary dress sense.
His megastar status in a genre conveniently classified as World Music earned him a spot in a 1996 anti-war campaign project by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The project brought together six Musicians with a Mission for the recording of ‘So Why?’ an emotional collective song composed by Wally Badarou.
It began with five leading African musicians – Papa Wemba, Youssou N’Dour, Jabu Khanyile, Lourdes Van-Dunem and Nigeria’s own Lagbaja – undertaking an epic journey through some of the continent’s most desperate war zones.
The places visited included Liberia, the Sudan-Kenya border, Angola and KwaZulu-Natal where they were hosted by the now late South African reggae icon, Lucky Dube.
‘So Why?’ was recorded after the tour and a powerful message delivered at a live concert in Paris in 1997.
Apart from working together on ‘So Why?’ Lagbaja, Papa Wemba and the four other artistes contributed solo tracks.
From Papa Wemba came ‘Too Many Children Are Dying’ while Lagbaja did ‘Africa, Wake Up!’
Other contributions were ‘Khanyisa’ by Jabu Khanyile, ‘War and Crime’ (Lucky Dube), Casamanca (Youssou N’Dour) and Panguiamie (Van-Dunem).
The project also produced a documentary film, a video clip and a book introduced by the late Nelson Mandela.
So Why? was performed at the closing ceremony of the 1997 KORA Awards in Sun City, South Africa were the original artistes were joined by Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Angelique Kidjo and others.
Papa Wemba went from hero to villain in 2004 when he was convicted of human trafficking in France and spent three months in prison.
The conviction was for a racket whereby illegal immigrants were taken to Europe posing as members of his band.
He was refused a visa to return to the UK the following year.
A Belgian court convicted him of the same crime in 2012, handing down a fine of €22,000 (£17,143; $24,690) and suspended prison sentence of 15 months.
Papa Wemba had many highs and lows but he will be mostly remembered for his artistry and high standards of personal cleanliness, hygiene and smart dress.
