Salum Mussa "Mzee Lumumba" (1926-1999)

Born in Nakapanya, Tanganyika, in 1926, Salum came to Dart-es-Salaam at a young age (1943);  he is one of Edward Saidi Tingatinga's cousins and was already working in Msasani, Dar, when Tingatinga decided to come to the capital.  Tingatinga benefited from his cousin's hospitality for several years.  It is only in 1973, after Tingatinga had died, that Mussa decided to start painting; he had seen his cousin painting so many times he did not need any more teaching.  Until he passed away in 1999, he could be found painting every day at the TACS centre at Morogoro Stores.
(adapted from biography in Tinga Tinga:  The Popular Paintings from Tanzania, by Yves Goscinny.  Dar es Salaam, c. 2003)