By Iminza Keboge
Published September 12, 2019
Music may be the most popular art form in Kenya. However, making a living from music business in the age of cassette tapes, CDs and DVDs was always tough. But it has become even tougher now in the era of Digital Disruption where YouTube and livestreaming have failed to deliver the fruits of the Promised Land to musicians who, like everyone else, still have to pay the bills for housing, education, medication and other living expenses.
Though having been in the entertainment business for close to 53 years, legendary Kikuyu musician Joseph Kamaru Macharia (1939 – 2018) had to be bailed out of a medical predicament by President Uhuru Kenyatta in his twilight. The President, at whose wedding the musician had performed almost 30 years earlier, paid the bills for the ailing musician at MP Shah Hospital in Nairobi. Two months later, in October 2018, Kamaru died, prompting John Mwangi Ng’ang’a alias John De’ Mathew, a 52-year-old musician from Gatanga, the springboard of Kikuyu music, to vow to change the plight of musicians in Kenya..
RELATED: UN Calls for Speed Management on Roads to Save Lives
“We want to come together and join a SACCO to pool resources together so that when we die, our families do not resort to harambees to give us a decent send-off, Never again shall we be conducting fundraisers to bury one of our own or to seek money for medical bills,” the artist popularly known in music circles as De’ Mathew, declared.
De’ Mathew walked the talk by rallying musicians together in forming Talented Musicians and Composers (TAMCO), a savings and credit cooperative organisation (SACCO) to take care of the welfare of musicians in January 2019.
RELATED: Tribute to Popular Mugithi Musician
However, some eight months later, the founding Chair of TAMCO, on his way back to Nairobi from Thika where he had participated in an event to help raise funds to meet the hospital bill of the child of a fellow musician known as Peter Kiggia, he of the Wendo wa Cash Money tune fame, De Mathew perished in a road accident. It was on a August 18 when the artist who is reported to have recorded more than 375 songs in 50 albums over a 33-year period died on Thika-Kenol Road near Blue Post Hotel.
The 1967-born De’ Mathew, whose pick up truck had rammed a lorry, was pronounced dead on arrival at Thika Nursing Home.
John De Mathew had ventured in music recording with a song titled Jennifer in December 1986 under the wings of Timona Mburu and and Joseph Wamumbe who helped him in recording the song. Come August 1987, he recorded My Dear Nduku which thrust him into the limelight.
RELATED: Kenya Fights Back to Save US$163 Million Lost in Traffic Accidents Annually
Fifth born child of Lucy Wanjiku and Mathew Nganga, John De Mathew attended Mukurwe-ini Primary and Naaro and Igikiro secondary schools before going to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where he hawked vegetables at Soko Mjinga market and meat in Kariobangi before he relocated to Nakuru town where he sold Sandak plastic shoes for a living.
John Mwangi Ng’ang’a De Mathew was may have been a prominent musician and entertainer, but he was not without controversy. He was in July 2012 arrested and charged alongside John Muigai alias Muigai wa Njoroge and Mark Kamande wa Kioi for composing and releasing a song titled Witueti Hiti (You have made yourself a hyena) or Mwaka wa Hiti (the year of the hyena) that was deemed to be fueling hate speech between the Kikuyu whose candidate, Uhuru Kenyatta, and the Luo whose candidate, Raila Odinga, were pitted against each other for the Presidency in the General Elections of 2013. The song, that called for unity among the Kikuyu,saw the National Cohesion and Integration Commission take the trio to court. They all denied the charge and were each released on Sh100 000 cash bail.
RELATED: Ghost Intervenes as Kenyan Thespians Fight
Father of three children, De Mathew was married to Sarafina Wairimu (Mama Shiku) and Caroline Waithera.
Thomas Ndegwa alias Ndegwa Wa Gatiti, De Mathew’s producer, is reported to have said the late musician had about 15 songs which he had planned to release in 2019.
Among those who paid respect to De Mathew were President Uhuru Kenyatta, Official Opposition Leader Raila Odinga, Deputy President William Ruto, Governor Mwangi Wa Iria of Murang’a County, and MP Nduati Ngugi of Gatanga Constituency.
RELATED: Popular Gospel Musician Dies in Road Accident
“As a nation, we were privileged to have had such a brilliant artist who played a big role in promoting our African cultural heritage through his music,” Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s President, said of the demise of De Mathew. “We have lost an icon in the music industry. DeMathew championed and played a big role in preserving our cultural heritage.”
Saying “De Mathew was a great composer of Kikuyu lyrics, which carried undertones of societal ills, including alcoholism and promoting peace and cohesion in society,” William Ruto, Kenya’s Deputy President, said the late musician “used his talent to teach us life lessons and convey socio-economic and cultural messages, especially to the youth.”
RELATED: Copying Undermines Kenya’s Music Creativity
Governor Mwangi Wa Iria of Murang’a County said the Kikuyu community “has lost an artist who guided them and warned them on various issues” and who “exemplified leadership skills following his chairmanship of the Tamco Sacco which was formed in January” 2019.
Gatanga MP Nduati Ngugi said De’ Mathew had “put Gatanga on the world map due to his popularity in the music industry. He was among the pioneer Agikuyu musicians who, to some extent, dictated the political direction and it’s sad to have lost him through the tragic accident.”
RELATED: Why Foreign Music Dominates Kenyan Airwaves
De’Mathew was laid to rest in Gatanga, Murang’a County of Central Kenya on August 24, 2019.
