Sporadic sounds of gunfire pierced through the tranquil night of Brazzaville on 22nd February 1972, with noise gaining crescendo with every passing minute as dawn approached. When morning finally came reluctantly, the information had already spread that there had been an attempted coup d’etat against the government of Marien Ngouabi, who had been Republic of Congo president since 1968.

However, forces loyal to the incumbent thwarted the attempt, with the military capturing the dissidents. Among those listed as arrested was Franklin Boukaka, a musician who had made a name for himself both in Brazzaville and Kinshasa and was one of the musical superstars of the time. In a strange twist of events, a few days later, his name was removed from the list of those who had been captured and included among those who had been killed, leaving no doubt that he had been executed. As fate would have it, Ngouabi was shot dead after being deposed five years later. His involvement was nonetheless not in doubt, as he had long been a target of the regime due to his activism. Although he was never tried fairly, his participation in the coup was easy to establish. Franklin Boukaka was a musician and an activist. He employed his music to preach the Pan-Africanism ideals that he stood for.

Coming in an era when the continent had just released itself from the yokes of colonialism, became very optimistic and was again beginning a new journey of disillusionment, with many a freedom fighter who had led their counties to independence slowly transitioning into native imperialism, Boukaka’s civil activism through music resonated so well with the hoi polloi.

A quick glance at his discography reveals a dominant theme of Pan-Africanism. Songs like Nakoki, Pont sur le Congo, Le Bucheron, Les Immortels, Ata Ozali, and Etumba are all decrying imperialism, seeking a better future for the continent. Les Immortels enumerates all revolutionists across the globe, from the Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara to Congolese martyr Simon Kimbangu, and South African anti-apartheid hero Albert Luthuli among many others.

Le Bucheron has become an anthem for freedom, frequently playing in national events across the continent. In Pont Sur L e Congo, Boukaka is wondering, albeit aloud, why the Republic of Congo (a former French colony) and the Democratic Republic of Congo are separate. He wonders why they should be separate yet they are occupied by the same communities, speak the same languages, practice the same culture, and drink water from the same river. He also derailed off the activism path and composed on other subjects.

As the nascent genre of Congolese rumba developed alongside folk songs, while most musicians focused on love and relationships as their predominant themes in their works, Boukaka preached Pan-Africanism in his music and attracted attention to his music. That wasn’t all. He was a great tenor. Prof. Larry Gumbe, a Nairobi-based engineer and music aficionado, holds Boukaka high and insists that he was easily one of the best tenors.

Born Francois Boukaka on October 10th, 1940, to musician parents, he attended elementary school in Brazzaville. Upon completion of his secondary school, he shuttled both sides of the River Congo, struggling to establish himself as a musician. His musical journey in Brazzaville and Kinshasa saw him feature for several bands of the era, among them Sexy Jazz of Miguel Samba, Sympathic Jazz, and others.

In 1957, he and other musicians among the Michel Boyibanda, who had been his colleagues at Sympatic band, teamed together to create the mercurial Negro band. This band is not to be confused with Negro Success of Bavon Marie Marie and Leon Bholen. Here, he did the song "Journal Dipanda," a commercial song that was marketing a newspaper publication by that name.
In 1960, he joined African Jazz, where he played alongside big names like Manu Dibango and others, and after a year, he quit with Jeannot Bombenga to create Vox Africa with Papa Noel, Djeskin, and others. In 1962, he went back to Brazzaville and joined Cercul, which had since transformed into a successful band with a large following.

He became the leader of this group, which had been in existence for a few years before he joined. He led Cercul to a new height of success in the 1960s with great compositions but quit in 1967 for a solo career. Boukaka toured Paris and Guinea, among several other African countries. Some of his latter-day compositions took a traditional trajectory and featured the thumb piano known as Likembe, as opposed to being dominated by the guitar as it had become the tradition with Congolese rumba.

Boukaka married Antonoite Mounga, to whom he dedicated a song by the same title. However, by the time of his death at the hands of the agents of Marien Ngouabi's mercenaries, they had separated. He was a man on a mission, and to date no one has attempted to chart his path, serving a cocktail of music and activism. By the time of his death, he was only 38. Both the world of music and activism remember his indelible contributions.

JEROME OGOLA

Jabulani Radio

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