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Nguli wa Muziki wa Mwambao nchini na barani Afrika Fatuma Binti Baraka maarufu kwa jina la Bi Kidude (zaidi ya miaka 90) amefariki mchana huu.
Taarifa zilizoifikia zinasema kuwa Bi Kidede amefariki majira ya saa 7 mchana wa leo nyumbani kwa ndugu yake huku Bububu Kisiwani Zanzibar.
Aidha taarifa hizo zinaelezo kuwa Mipango yua kuusafirisha mwili wa Marehemu inafanyika kutoka huko Bububu hadi Nyumbani kwake Raha Leo.
Bi Kidude aliyekuwa akisumbuliwa na ugonjwa na kulazwa mara kadhaa kifo chake kinaelezwa pia kuchangiwa zaidi na umri mkubwa.
Msiba huu ni mzto kuwahi kutokea kwa tasnia ya muziki na Sanaa kwa ujumla kufuatia Mchango mkubwa wa Marehemu katika kukuza muziki halisia wa mwambao.
Rais Jakaya Kikwete alimtunuku Bi Kidude Nishani ya Uhuru wa Tanzania kwa mchango wake mkubwa alioutoa katika kipindi cha uhai wake.
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WASIFU WA MAREHEMU FATUMA BINTI BARAKA 'BI KIDUDE'
Marehemu Bi Kidude alikuwa ni gwiji wa muziki katika Bara la Afrika. Jina lake halisi ni Fatuma binti Baraka. Bi Kidude ni msanii mkongwe na mahiri sana katika fani ya muziki wa mwambao ambao hujulikana kwa jina la Taarabu.
Muziki huu ambao ni mchanganyiko wa muziki toka nchi za Kiarabu na vionjo vya muziki wa Kiafrikaumekita sana katika mwambao wa Afrika Mashariki yaani Zanzibar, Mombasa, Lamu na kwingineko.
Leo hii ni Marehemu! Nguli na Mtunukiwa wa Nishani ya Uhuru wa Tanganyika/Tanzania 2012, Fatuma binti Baraka au Bi Kidude, alizaliwa katika kijiji cha Mfagimarigo Zanzibar katika familia ya watoto saba (7). Baba yake Mzee Baraka alikuwa ni mfanyabiashara wa nazi, zao ambalo ni la kutumainiwa sana Zanzibar.
Bi Kidude aliwahi kusimulia kuwa hafahamu tarehe halisi aliyozaliwa, isipokuwa anachojua ni kwamba alizaliwa wakati rupia ikitumika kama fedha, na vilevile ana hakika ni kabla ya Vita Kuu ya Kwanza ya Ulaya. Wataalamu wa mahesabu baada ya kupata taarifa hizo wakampigia mahesabu na kumkabidhi miaka yake kwamba ni zaidi ya miaka 90.
Bi Kidude aliendelea kusema uimbaji aliuanza tangu alipokuwa na umri wa miaka kumi na alijifunza kutoka kwa msanii mkongwe na aliyetamba sana enzi hizo Sitti binti Saad. Anasema wageni wengi kutoka sehemu mbalimbali walikuwa wakifika Zanzibar kuja kumwona Sitti, na kwa vile Bi Kidude na Sitti walikuwa wako karibu basi yeye alikuwa akiwapeleka wageni wale nyumbani kwa Bi Sitti, wakifika huko wageni walikuwa wakiingia ndani na yeye kubakia nje, kule ndani Bi Sitti alikuwa akiwaimbia wale wageni, na yeye huku nje alikuwa akimsikiliza kwa makini na kumfuatiza jinsi alivyokuwa akiimba. Aliendelea hivyo hadi akawa mahiri sana katika uimbaji.
Alipokuwa na miaka 13, kwa mara ya kwanza alitoroka nyumbani kwao Zanzibar na kukimbilia Tanzania Bara, baada ya kulazimishwa kuolewa. Lakini alipokuwa kigoli wa kutosha kuolewa aliolewa ingawa ndoa hiyo nayo haikudumu kutokana na manyanyaso aliyokuwa akiyapata, hivyo aliamua kukimbilia kaskazini mwa Misri ikiwa ni katika miaka ya 1930, huko aling'ara sana katika fani yake ya uimbaji na uchezaji ngoma. Lakini ilipofika miaka ya 1940 aliamua kurudi nyumbani Zanzibar ambako aliendelea na shughuli zake uimbaji.
Bi Kidude hategemei kazi moja tu ya kuimba, kwani pia ni mfanyabiashara ya 'wanja' na 'hina' ambavyo anavitengeneza yeye mwenyewe, pia ni mtaalamu wa matibabu kwa dawa za mitishamba na zaidi ya hayo ni mwalimu mzuri sana wa 'Unyago' na ameanzisha chuo chake mwenyewe na anasema katika wanafunzi wake wote hakuna aliyepata talaka kutoka kwa mumewe.
Watu wanasema 'Utu uzima dawa' Bi Kidude ana upeo mkubwa sana wa akili kwani pamoja na kukulia katika mazingira yaliyogubikwa na tamaduni za kiarabu ambapo mwanamke anatakiwa wakati wote akiwa hadharani ajifunike, Bi Kidude aliliona hili katika upeo mwingine kwamba ni sheria tu ya kitamaduni toka Uarabuni, hivyo aliamua kuvunja sheria hiyo na kuondoa hijabu mwilini mwake, na sasa hivi anavaa kama Mtanzania na si kama Mwarabu. Lakini hakubakia hapo alivunja na miiko mingine zaidi ya kutokunywa na kuvuta, kwani Bi Kidude anakunywa pombe na kuvuta sigara jambo ambalo si kawaida kwa wanawake Zanzibar.
Bi Kidude amekwisha tembelea nchi nyingi sana ikiwa ni pamoja na Oman, Ufaransa, Hispania, Ufini, Ujerumani na Uingereza.
Amekwisha pata tuzo mbalimbali ikiwa ni pamoja na ile ya Tamasha la Filamu la Nchi za Jahazi (ZIFF) mwaka 1999 tuzo ni ya maisha. Pia mwaka jana tuzo ya WOMAX ilienda kwake.
Nyimbo alizowahi kuimba ni pamoja na Muhogo wa Jang'ombe, na anaimba kwa Kiswahili na Kiarabu. Hakuwahi kupata elimu nyingine zaidi ya Kurani.
Bi Kidude pia amekuwa akishirikishwa na wasanii wengi wakongwe na chipukizi katika nyimbo zao. Miongoni mwa nyimbo zinazotamba sana siku hizi ambazo Bi Kifude ameimba na vijana wa kisasa ni za Msanii Ali Toll maarufu AT.
Mbali na AT lakini pia Bi Kidude amewika na kung'ara zaidi katika wimbo mwingine wa vijana wa Ahmada Umelewa wa Msanii Offside Trick ambao umepigwa marufuku kupigwa kwa sasa visiwani Zanzibar.
R.I.P FATUMA BARAKA “BI KIDUDE”.
17 April 2013
MARGARET THATCHER – SOME PERSONAL MEMORIES
Dear Insight Reader
The controversy around Margaret Thatcher's funeral today and possible disruptions should not come as a surprise. Aside from having introduced several controversial policies during her time, the fact is that Margaret Thatcher’s style of politics inevitably alienated many people. In contrast to a “consensus” politician, and therefore somebody who aims at creating as big a supporting base as possible, Thatcher was a “conviction” politician and if you weren't with her then you inevitably were viewed as being against her. The concept is nicely expressed in one of the first really good biographies of Thatcher. It is by Hugo Young of The Guardian and is called "One of us”. “Is he one of us?" - Thatcher would fiercely enquire about anyone who was put up for the jobs that she had to fill. Only those who passed the test were admitted to the team with whom she hoped to revolutionise Britain.
Of course, her reforming influence went beyond Britain. Together with Ronald Reagan and Helmut Köhl the three formed a formidable force in shaping a global dominant free-enterprise mixed economy. Remember, this was before China's emergence, the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Soviet Union. But, as importantly, were their successors - Tony Blair (after a short but insignificant reign by John Major), Bill Clinton in the US, and Angela Merkel - in Germany. Opposition leaders, particularly after bruising elections, wish to change the political map according to their own views, ignoring, that their predecessors have created a new reality. Blair and company had the good sense to recognise that a new political reality had been created to which they simply had to adjust.
Thatcher’s achievement should therefore not be seen as individual and isolated - although there is no doubt that she was the leading thinker and original inspiration. With people like Keith Joseph – Thatcher provided the philosophical and psychological basis for a new social and economic paradigm. Her impact from a philosophical and psychological point of view was enormous. It stretched way beyond Europe and was to become the social and economic foundation of much of the world at that time.
But to tell of certain memories I have:
- My wife and I first met her when she visited South Africa in 1973 as the U.K's Minister of Education. I was teaching at Wits University and we were invited by the British embassy to meet her. Our first meeting with her in London during my ambassadorship was shortly after I had arrived and was specially arranged by Harry and Bridget Oppenheimer at their flat in Eaton Square. It was an intimate dinner with much of the conversation about the situation in South Africa at the time. My wife remembers her as particularly feminine - a quality she was to experience also later. There is no question that Thatcher had an intense interest in developments in this country, some part of which I think would have been encouraged by her husband Denis’ considerable business interests in the country. In fact, the story is told of how he came down from the family quarters at Number 10 and spotted somebody's luggage in the hallway. He asked who it belonged to, and where the person was going to. Told the name and that the destination was South Africa, Denis Thatcher is said to have responded: "Lucky bugger!"
- My dealings with the British government were understandably mainly with Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe. When we arrived in Britain the miners’ strike was in full swing and dominated the first months of my ambassadorship. It was a fight to the finish - which is one of the reasons Thatcher’s period in office was controversial. Once that was over, and the left-wing had more or less reconstituted themselves, they turned their attention to South Africa. The protest outside the embassy in Trafalgar Square increased in intensity, and we had to close the main door admitting visitors via a side entrance. Once a week, I think it was on a Tuesday, a Dixie band turned up and played for a couple of hours on the pavement just below my window. Geoffrey Howe and I had an excellent relationship which he acknowledges in his memoirs. But because of our problematic situation, with a lot of the anti- apartheid activity directed at the embassy and at selected private sector companies (notably Barclays Bank), Geoffrey Howe and I had an arrangement whereby once every fortnight I would breakfast with him at his residence to talk about our relationship. On one occasion I took a Dictaphone with me on which, sitting at my desk I had recorded the Dixie band - which was in violation obviously of all the conventions relating to diplomatic and consular premises. Geoffrey expressed his sympathy, but nothing was done to move those protesters from the pavement outside the embassy to the pavement surrounding Trafalgar Square.
- It is quite mistaken to suggest Margaret Thatcher supported apartheid because she opposed sanctions against South Africa. Aside from the UK’s very considerable business involvement in Southern Africa, she could invoke the support on this issue of Alan Paton, the author of “Cry the beloved country”, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Helen Suzman. And she took the lead in introducing the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group at the 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. She was also responsible for taking the extraordinary step of sending a message to me as ambassador in London before she was in contact with the South African Government. Her message “Please tell your government not to reject this initiative" which, of course, President P.W Botha subsequently did in the crudest of ways imaginable. Once I had resigned as ambassador, which was of course for political reasons, I had to immediately return to South Africa, leaving my wife to do the packing and sorting out our boys education etc. Nonetheless, Margaret Thatcher saw to it that Anita was invited to the Tory victory election victory celebration at the party's headquarters in London. After rousingly thanking all the campaign workers she said: “now enjoy yourselves but don’t spill orange juice on our new carpets!
- During this period, Anita received a visit at Highveld, the official residence from three Conservative Members of Parliament. They informed her confidentially that Thatcher wanted to help me in my campaign which was, of course, standing as an independent. If I were agreeable, she wanted to send the Conservative Party’s Chief organiser in Scotland, Duncan Macmillan, to help in Helderberg. Anita conveyed this to me in guarded terms over the telephone - suggesting that Macmillan should give as the explanation for his presence in South Africa the fact that he was writing a book about the election. But when President P.W. Botha in a speech somewhere in the Free State, referred to me as the British governments’ candidate in the election I asked Duncan who had paid his airfare and what airline he had used. It turned out that he had travelled on SAA and the cost was covered by the United Kingdom South African Trade Association! This subsequently led to an official enquiry as to who was funding my campaign. This quietly disappeared when the people involved learned that the main funders were Gavin Relly of Anglo-American, Anton Rupert and his son Johan, Donald Gordon founder of Liberty Life, and Hans Schreiber the German owner of the wine farm Neethlingshof. And I might add 161 ordinary citizens!
- I saw Margaret Thatcher very frequently after the Helderberg election. Whenever I visited London, I would phone Charles Powell and tell him I was in London. He would say “I can squeeze you in at 3h00 tomorrow afternoon”. What pleased me is that when we met she invariably produced the latest edition of Insight with lots of penciled comments and questions.
- The last time my wife and I saw Margaret Thatcher was after she had resigned as Prime Minister. She had to vacate Number 10 but her own house in Dullich was not available so she was staying in the borrowed flat of the Fords. It was a late evening meeting, and as the taxi drew into Eaton Square one saw where she was because of the lights and the police presence. The reason for wanting to see me was that she was planning a big speech on Africa and she wanted some advice. She had an aide with her who was taking notes. A phone rang and the aide took the call and on his return she asked with some anticipation: "Is it Mark?" No, he replied. It seems that it was some Tory politician. Her disappointment was palpable, and my wife and I felt immensely sorry for her in these completely impersonal surroundings, with not a vase of flowers and only Ford family photographs. The impression was an abiding one which we recall to this day.
Margaret Thatcher was an extraordinary strong woman, a farseeing and courageous politician, a good mother and a very good friend
Dr Denis Worrall
Email: staceyf@omegainvest.co.za for all enquiries.
Copyright 2008. Omega Investment Research. All Rights Reserved www.omegainvest.co.za
If you would like to reproduce any of Denis Worrall’s E-Letters you must include the source of your quote and an email address (denisw@omegainvest.co.za) Please write to info@omegainvest.co.za and inform us of any reproductions. Please include where and when the copy will be reproduced.
Denis Worrall is Chairman of Omega Investment Research, a South African based investment advisory and strategic marketing consultancy. He is a graduate of the University Cape Town (M. A.), University of South Africa (LLB) and Cornell University (Ph.D) where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He started his career as an academic lecturing at universities in the US, Nigeria and South Africa. His last post was as research Professor at Rhodes University. He practised as an advocate for seven years in Cape Town, before going into public life. He has been a Member of Parliament, chairman of the Constitutional committee of the Presidents’ council, South African Ambassador to Australia and the Court of St James’s (London).
